Clik here to view.
Pope Francis and what God doesn't know
There is a riddle among priests that I have heard on every continent I have ever visited (all but Antarctica). The question is: "What are the three things God doesn't know?" The third of the answers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sell the Church's treasures to help the poor?
"I looked up at the great basilica, and I had two reactions: First, I appreciated its beauty and reverence; but then I thought, ‘What corruption caused someone to spend so much on this building when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Pope's war with the Curia
If you want to understand how Pope Francis is planning to change the Catholic church, then don't waste time searching for clues in the charming, self-effacing press conference he gave on the plane back...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The secret Vatican archives
Some believe it houses evidence of extraterrestrial life. Others, ancient texts that disprove the existence of Jesus. Perhaps dark truths that would discredit and destroy the Church? A mistranslated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Church for the poor
Pope Francis grabbed headlines recently when he announced that Rome had lifted the block on sainthood for Archbishop Óscar Romero of San Salvador, who was shot dead while saying Mass in 1980. But much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pope Francis cannot be the Saviour of the Church
Within the last year, the Catholic Church has garnered a bounty of something it hasn't seen in decades: positive attention. The man responsible for the change in the Church's public reputation is Pope...
View ArticleISIS magazine calls for war against Catholic Church
A magazine of the militant Islamic group ISIS has called for a war against the Catholic Church. With the headline "The Failed Crusade", the photo-shopped cover of the latest issue of Dabiq shows a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Changing the Catholic Church is hard
(CNN) — As Catholic bishops in Rome began a major meeting on modern family life two weeks ago, Pope Francis encouraged them to speak candidly and "without timidness." He certainly got what he asked...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Catholic Church is changing
Can you be more Catholic than the Pope? The American arch-reactionary Pat Buchanan clearly thinks so. He has been lambasting Pope Francis for sowing "confusion among the faithful" by refusing to defend...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The dangers of cowardly ecumenism with Russia
Imagine if the pope were invited to address a summit of Protestant leaders, and used the platform to take a swipe at Italy's tiny Waldensian Protestant church — complaining that it tries to convert...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A father like Francis
I needed Pope Francis. And not only because I'm part of the Catholic Church and we were without a shepherd . . . I mean I needed him because I'm sinful, and broken, and I need a constant reminder of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Catholic difference
We just happen to be Catholics, right? Does it make any difference what we are? Does being Catholic really, ultimately, mean much of anything? "So the power of deception, which is over others' minds...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cardinal Burke: conservative troublemaker
Pope Francis' transfer of Cardinal Raymond Burke on Saturday from being the Vatican's "chief justice" to a mere cardinal-protector of the Knights of Malta has intensified yet more irresponsible talk of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Religious trends in Latin America
Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics - nearly 40% of the world's total Catholic population - and the Roman Catholic Church now has a Latin American pope for the first time in its...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pope Francis: the great reformer
Last Friday morning, as I waited with my wife to greet Pope Francis after the 7 am Mass he says each day at the Santa Marta guesthouse, the strangeness of it all hit me. I was presenting a biography of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beginning of a tough time for Pope Francis
Pope Francis faces a tough road ahead, a veteran Vatican watcher told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that aired Wednesday. "It's a very tough period that is beginning for him, because of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pope Francis: open resistance is 'a good sign'
Immediately after his election on 13 March 2013, Pope Francis told himself, "Jorge, do not change, continue being yourself, because to change at your age would be ridiculous." He revealed this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ten ways Pope Francis earned our respect in 2014
In 2014, Pope Francis continued to exercise a fascination for members of his Catholic flock and for the rest of the world. There was no papal pronouncement in 2014 to match his electric answer last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pope Francis's pastoral revolution, two years on
While in Dublin recently, I stopped by the Jesuit community at Milltown to meet a man who had once taught Scripture in a huge college outside Buenos Aires, which was at that time run by the man who is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Biography of Pope Francis — another view
Austen Ivereigh, The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, Allen and Unwin, London 2014. Deeply disturbing I found this book when I first read it last year and I remain disturbed....
View Article
