Religion Dispatches
Amid the clamor to figure out who Pope Francis might be, observers never failed to mention that he is the first Jesuit pope. But what does that really tell us and, more importantly, as his decisions begin to come down the pipeline, what is most important to know about his Jesuit worldview?
Read More
I think it is time for Catholics to grow up and realize that royalty does not become us. The Church is a service organization whose primary stakeholders are people who are poor. Their needs, and not the whims of pampered prelates, are the priority. Nothing less is acceptable. Raise the bar for heaven’s sake.
Read More
Today we are a great distance from the ecological situation of medieval Italy. With the aid of capital and industry, we humans have become so practiced, and coldly efficient, in matters of animal domestication that we now have health insurance on offer for wealthy domestic pets while billions of other creatures in our care are heedlessly slaughtered. Our domestication practices are a mess.
Read MoreThe Pope-to-be expressed strong critique of the Church in advance of the conclave that elected him.
Read More
Statistics are one way to tell the story: In 1984, 87% of Irish Catholics went to weekly Mass. In 2011, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said 18% of Dublin Church members attend services. Images are another option: gaggles of green-bedecked youngsters and young adults line the St. Paddy’s Day parade route, but in Dublin’s cathedral youthful faces only speckle the crowd.
Read More
His biographer says yes.
Read MoreAs American Catholics cite sex abuse response as top priority, questions from Argentina.
Read More
Catholic Christianity has a long tradition of being shaped from the margins.
Read MoreThe latest bloggingheads.
Read MoreKidnapped Jesuit priest accused Bergoglio of virtually handing him over.
Read More