Seminaries have four to five years of post-college priestly formation to train men to be leaders of the small “corporations” that parishes have become.
Pope Francis has taken steps to bolster synodality and wean the universal Church from its unhealthy obsession with Vatican centralization. How has he done it?
The pushback to Pope Francis’s reforms is intensifying and the Jesuit pontiff is not shy to admit it. “But that’s a good sign for me – that it’s out in the open."
Francis’s view of “domination" as an impediment to virtuous fellowship in society represents concern with unjust relations of many forms, not merely economic ones.
The synod comes at a time when a huge gulf has opened up between the teaching of the church on sex, marriage, and the family and the practice of many Catholics.
It's not the case that Francis has little interest in theological exchanges. Rather, interreligious friendships are more the basis for dialogue than its by-product.
Francis’s new language and style have not been universally welcomed by the bishops, especially those in Italy, where the old guard seems especially recalcitrant.
John XXIII had a program of updating; John Paul II was seen as bringing a degree of Restoration. How do their two very different legacies relate to each other?
To get an inkling of the power of anti-Judaic legacy, I recommend reading a gospel in one sitting. Or better yet, watch 'The Gospel of John' with a Jewish friend.
An interreligious dialogue in which parties explain away their distinctive truth claims can help to improve relations among participants, but at great cost.
Whether liberal or conservative, reform-minded or traditionalist, Catholics were stunned by the interview Pope Francis recently gave. So were many non-Catholics.
Over the course of six decades, Fr. Andrew M. Greeley—who died on May 30—wrote regularly for Commonweal. Here are excerpts from just some of his articles.
Benedict's resignation forced the church to allow something that has been thought unacceptable for centuries, setting the stage for his predecessor to do likewise.
With the concentration of power in Rome, perhaps the responsibilities of the papacy are not simply too much for a person of Benedict's age, but for any one person.
