IS NEW LIFE AHEAD IN THE CHURCH?Sr. Ilia Delio warns that the church has 'a deep structural problem ... that at this point requires either a radical decision towards a new ecclesial structure or the acceptance of the possibility of a major schism.'
DOUBLE LIVESWhat is needed now is a clear-eyed understanding of “the danger of clerical double lives—of secrets that can be used as weapons to protect other secrets.
REMEMBERING JERUSALEM WHILE ROME BURNSIn this commentary Canadian biblical scholar, Dr Julius-Kei Kato, invites us to examine a precedent and warning from the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah.
US BISHOPS HAVE YET TO FIND THEIR COLLECTIVE MORAL COREThe culture of the Catholic clergy and the state of the episcopacy have come under intense scrutiny as a result of the abuse crisis, but what happened at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' meeting is not encouraging.
POPE'S SUMMIT OPENS NEW CHAPTER ON ABUSEPope Francis is convinced that the scourge of abuse is a problem that does not pertain just to a single country. While the 2019 summit is unlikely to come up with readymade answers, it is likely to pave the way for a new framework of episcopal accountability.
A CULTURE OF SECRECY THAT PERPETRATED ABUSE New York Times Podcast: A sweeping report issued by a grand jury in Pennsylvania sheds new light on the systemic nature of sexual abuse in the Church...New York Times Podcast: A sweeping report issued by a grand jury in Pennsylvania sheds new light on the systemic nature of sexual abuse in the Church...
A TURNING POINT ON SEX-ABUSE? For some twenty-five years, American Catholics have been hearing from confident church leaders that they were addressing the evil of clergy sexual abuse. So it’s no surprise that Francis is being greeted with skepticism.
CHANGE THE CLERICAL CULTURE A predator priest can ascend to princely rank only if the clerical culture around him enables those who are complicit by their silence and failure to act.
DEAR CATHOLIC BISHOPS, TIME’S UP It has often been said that the Church is not a democracy. That should not give its administrators justification to be cruel, abusive, or incompetent, but that is precisely what has happened.
FROM EVASION TO CONVERSION On sex abuse, Pope Francis redirects our focus: away from mere institutional reform and toward a genuine conversion to synodality over clericalism.
IS TRANSPARENCY A CURE-ALL?The history of the church is a history of saints and sinners. Lately the sinful part is certainly more visible than the saintly.
POWER AND RESPONSIBILITYOnce again the Catholic Church has had to endure a public scolding by a United Nations agency arising from the sexual abuse of children by clergy.
RESPONDING TO THE SUMMER OF SEX ABUSE SCANDALS Watch an intergenerational discussion on how Catholics are responding to the sexual abuse crisis, with Jesuit Fathers Matt Malone and Sam Sawyer and associate editors Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis.
THE BODY OF CHRIST MUST RECLAIM OUR CHURCH The revelations of the last two months make undeniably clear that it is time for the laity to reclaim our ownership of this church. We are the body of Christ, we are the church.
THE PRIESTHOOD, CELIBACY AND SEXRecent news stories about financial settlements with adults who had sexual encounters with a bishop show that the issue of sex abuse in the Catholic Church is not limited to the abuse of minors.
THE TENSE DEBATE OVER GAY PRIESTS Efforts to blame abuse cases on a ‘homosexual subculture’ in the Catholic hierarchy have divided the church and drawn charges of scapegoating.
TRENT’S LONG SHADOW In light of the sex-abuse crisis, it's finally time to revisit the basic models of ecclesial organization that the Council of Trent imposed on the Catholic Church.
TRUTH & RECONCILIATION Neither canon law nor civil law processes can help the Catholic Church establish true accountability for the sexual-abuse scandal.
VATICAN SEXUAL ABUSE MEETING IS DESTINED TO FAILWith no women, lay people, or survivors invited, nothing will change and everyone will go home feeling righteous about having 'done' something. The something will be more prayer than policy, more story than analysis, more circling the wagons than opening the doors to the light of justice.
PRIESTHOOD AND REVOLUTIONThe basic error is to see the Church primarily as a community. The Church is not first of all a community; it is first of all a movement within the community of mankind.
DELIVER USWill the Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis ever end? Hear from experts, advocates, and survivors to learn what the church can do to move forward. Because you can’t fix something until you know how it’s broken. That's a question everyone has been asking since the latest wave of news in 2018: Podcast from America magazine.
FRANCIS INHERITS DECADES OF ABUSE COVER-UPAs the heir to disastrous mistakes of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Francis is an existential pope, trying to chart a way out of the long, aching scandal by forging standards where few exist (Part 1 of 3)
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Part 2 |
Part 3 ONE STEP FORWARDWhat happened at the Summit should have left the bishops deeply aware of what is at stake — especially those bishops from parts of the world where church leaders have not yet confronted the abuse in their midst.
THE SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS IS NOT A CRISISFar from being merely a tragic moment in the church’s history, sexual abuse and related cover-ups are the fruits of a systemic disorder in the church: toxic clericalism.
BENEDICT’S UNTIMELY MEDITATIONHow His Essay on Sex Abuse is Being Weaponized. The pope emeritus’s new essay disagrees not only with the current pope’s analysis of the sex-abuse crisis, but also with almost everyone else who has studied it.
FRANCIS FOLLOWS THROUGHThe document [of new sex abuse rules] should be received “with neither cynicism or complacency.” It is one of the most decisive actions Rome has taken on the issue.
THE PURGATORY OF THE SEX ABUSE CRISISEugene Cullen Kennedy, who died June 3, 2015, was one of the most insightful observers of the Catholic Church in the modern era.This pieces on the clergy culture and the sex abuse crisis was part of a larger work when he died.
USCCB SPRING ASSEMBLY 2019After a tumultuous year, the bishops' meeting opened with a palpable sense of weariness. Follow day-by-day coverage of the 2019 USCCB Spring Assembly.
AVAERY DULLES ON "A EUCHARISTIC CHURCH"Unless there were a church, there would be no one to celebrate the Eucharist, but unless there were a Eucharist, the church would lack the supreme source of its vitality.
BREXIT AS A SPIRITUAL CRISISThis is not a battle between the Church and secularism or between Christianity and other religions... it is a theological and spiritual crisis within Christianity itself.
A TEST FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCHIt has been a year since the bishop acknowledged "inadequacies" in his handling of abuse complaints involving minors as well as adults targeted by clergymen...
DISCOVERING THE GOD WITHINNo denomination, no racial group has dibs on God. The voice I try to listen to is pretty clear about His desire to include all of us under the umbrella of his love.
BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT?Most of us are not much interested in counterarguments and counter-evidence that could complicate the consensus that the Catholic Church is guilty of all that it has been accused of, and more.
HOW CATHOLICS CAN WORK FOR RACIAL JUSTICEWhile not all of us are responsible for the escalation of injustice, as Christians we are all accountable. We must be willing to talk about race in America, even when it makes us uncomfortable.
WHY WHITE JESUS IS A PROBLEMAs a Palestinian Jew, Jesus was not white, and the ubiquitous depiction of Jesus as not only white, but often blonde-haired and blue-eyed, is not without consequences, both theological and psychological.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DAVID HAASThe reality is that a theology of gender complementarity entrenches and sanctifies gender inequality — and gender inequality is the root of all violence against women worldwide.
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR A PANDEMIC MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORYIf we had been using the 10 Commandments as a standard for our own decisions and balance of power, we wouldn't be so split as a people... so depressed about the future, so suspicious of lock downs and so in need of the gift of common care.
WHITE CHURCHES & WHITE SUPREMACYWhite Christians are not simply complicit in racism and white supremacy, argues scholar Robert P. Jones. They’re actually culpable ... a Podcst from
Commonweal Magazine TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE MCCARRICK REPORT Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused seminarians and minors for decades—all while being promoted through the church’s ranks at a remarkable speed. How did this happen?
DON’T PUT PRIESTS ON A PEDESTAL Finally there appears an issue that our divided church can agree on. Catholics of all stripes—conservatives and liberals and in-betweens—are declaring a pox on clericalism.
WE NEED ACCOUNTABILITY, REPENTANCE AND A RECKONINGAll Christians are left to reckon with the fact that the name of Jesus and the warrant of the Gospel have been publicly invoked... The harm to the credibility of the Christian witness is deep and will be long-lasting. Christian leaders, the U.S. Catholic bishops among them, must clearly condemn this misuse of faith.
PIETY, POPULISM, AND ‘PATRIOTS’For the most part, these supposedly Catholic websites haven’t received the scrutiny they deserve. Targeted at Catholics, a swing vote, they serve up a potent mix of traditional piety and populist politics.
WHAT IS THE COST OF THE AMERICAN SOUL?As they struggled to make it in America, many Catholics made a devil’s bargain on race - A devil’s bargain: This is when one exchanges one’s soul for worldly benefits. It’s more common than you think.
LOTS OF POLITICS, LITTLE LEGITIMACY When was the last time the USCCB or a cardinal or an archbishop laid out an ecclesial and theological vision for the Church in this country for the long term?
WHY WE CAN’T DISMISS THE TRAUMA OF ABUSEAll sexual abuse perpetrated by a man or woman in a position of spiritual authority is by its nature also spiritual abuse, not only sexual violation. This has far-reaching consequences that we must acknowledge.
Q & A ON THE U.S. BISHOPS’ VOTEThis important document on the Eucharist will serve as a foundation for the multi-year Eucharistic Revival Project, a major national effort to reignite Eucharistic faith in our country.
POPE FRANCIS’S VISION OF SYNODALITY For many Catholics, the word “synod” is still relatively unfamiliar. The objective of this phase is to consult the People of God so that the synodal process is carried out through listening to all of the baptised...
‘THE PROBLEM REMAINS’Sex abuse & the French Catholic Church: The report is receiving attention for its recommendations — some of which have generated controversy — and for taking Pope Francis specifically to task.
THE CHURCH MUST FIND ITS WAY BACK TO JESUSChristmas celebrates a love so amazing it is beyond imagination and words. But what can this feast tell us about who the Catholic faith community is called to become, especially in times of such uncertainty and anxiety?
PAEDOPHILE PRIESTS: WHAT BENEDICT KNEW...The cauldron of clerical sexual abuse that has been bubbling for years in Germany finally boiled over. The explosive power of the bomb that went off in Munich last week will further inflame the crisis in the Catholic Church...
THE CHURCH NEEDS TO NAME AND CONFRONT 'CLERICAL FRAGILITY'Just as racism is a white problem, sexual abuse in the church is a clergy problem. And just as white people need to name and confront "white fragility," so too do priests, bishops and deacons need to name and confront "clerical fragility."
THE CHURCH’S MEMORY PROBLEMSWhat seems like a never-ending state of crisis has paralyzed Catholicism. This is not the Church of mercy that Francis has been talking about for the past ten years.
A CERTAIN VISION OF THE CHURCHAn investigation by US journalists found that a non-profit group in Colorado has spent at least $4 million to buy mobile app tracking data to identify priests using gay dating and hookup apps.
DO PRIESTS HAVE A RIGHT TO PRIVACY?The right to privacy may sometimes be exaggerated, and it can certainly be abused. The bishops need to act decisively. If they do not, their priests will become weapons and targets in the competing Panopticons of the culture wars.
WHEN THE CHURCH REFUSES GOD’S LOVEThe real question is, who would Jesus deny absolution to? Which transgender student would Jesus turn away and say they could not be a part of his community and learn from his teachings?
WHY WE SHOULD ERR ON THE SIDE OF MERCYIt is imperative that priests do everything within their power to be a good and welcoming confessor. Not every priest is charming or a master of people skills, but every priest has the capacity to be kind and decent in the confessional booth.
GOD OF THE IM/POSSIBLEWith the resurrection of Jesus Christ, time is interrupted and we are startled by a deeper reality: God is doing new things.
THE SURVIVORS’ EMPTY PALACE Safeguarding and the Church: the credibility of the Church’s attempts to tackle abuse hinges on how it responds at the centre.
NOT A FEW BAD APPLES—THE BARREL IS ROTTENTom Doyle brings a wealth of knowledge, experience of both research and litigation, and a solid integrity to the examination of the abuse of children by clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church.
FRANCIS’ VISION AND THE SYNOD’S LATEST CHALLENGEFrancis is restoring a sense that responsibility for the life and work of the Church is shared by all the baptised, whatever their status, female or male, lay or ordained, gay or straight, married or single, young or old.
DEVELOPING THE VOICE OF THE LAITY Walking together requires a willingness to let go of certainty and succumb to the vulnerability of new challenges. Becoming an actively communal Church demands nothing less.
THE SUMMIT ON ABUSE, FIVE YEARS LATERDid Francis’s unprecedented meeting accomplish anything? there remains the persistent reluctance or inability of many bishops and other Church leaders to handle contact with victims, abusers, clerics, and the media.
FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDWhile the Holy Family and the Christ Child so often have been idealized, they also model vulnerability, dependency, and relationship. Behind every tinseled image of “Christ Adored” is the story of a mother giving birth to a child in a time when childbirth was defined by risk and precariousness.
THE FRUITS OF AMERICAN BISHOPS’ FAILUREHow is it that Catholics can without qualms defy and ridicule their bishops and even the pope while advocating and implementing policies that are blatantly racist and blind to the individual rights and stories of the children of God who are victims of those policies?
FREEDOM, SAFETY AND VULNERABILITYWhat do catechizing the faithful and safeguarding them from abuse have in common? Both, the Church teaches, are responsibilities belonging to the entire Catholic community.