National Catholic Reporter

Reading the Papal Tea Leaves

by George Neumayr

Hans Kung, the dissenting European theologian, said he was “overwhelmed by joy,” in a radio interview after the elevation of Pope Francis. “There is hope in this man,” gushed Kung, who predicted that Pope Francis will conform to the progressive…

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Following the Bad Council of the Media

by George Neumayr

Speaking to the clergy of Rome in one of his last speeches as pope, Benedict XVI acknowledged the ruinous influence that the media has exercised over the Church for decades. He referred to the spurious spirit of Vatican II as…

Catholic Reaction to Obama’s HHS “Compromise”

by Kenneth D. Whitehead

There was surely never any chance that the Obama Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could revise its current birth prevention mandate in a way that would be acceptable to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The…

The Catholic Left’s Latest Call for the Ordination of Women

by Kenneth D. Whitehead

In early December the independent and very liberal National Catholic Reporter weekly newspaper published a long, carefully reasoned editorial declaring that “The Ordination of Women Would Correct an Injustice.” If the Church were deliberately perpetrating an injustice in the matter…

Subsidiarity on Earth and in Heaven

by Howard Kainz

Several years ago I attended a lecture at Marquette by John Allen, the Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, in which he addressed the stereotype of the Vatican passing down commands to be implemented by 5000 bishops and subordinate…

Did Bishop Finn Deserve Indictment?

by Philip Lawler

Two weeks have passed since the indictment of Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn. The bishop’s critics are demanding his resignation, while his defenders protest his innocence. Let’s step back a pace, and put the matter in perspective. The indictment of…

John Allen on “There Be Dragons”

by Joseph Susanka

Over at the National Catholic Reporter blog, John Allen has an intriguing discussion of There Be Dragons, Roland Joffé’s upcoming film about the life of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. From a journalistic point of view, it’s tempting to style “There…

Chris Matthews, John Allen, and Odious Comparisons

by Deal W. Hudson

John Allen, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, routinely uses the phrase “Taliban Catholicism” to describe “an exaggerated allergy to anything that smacks of secularism, liberalization, or corruption by modernity — an angry form of the faith that knows…

John Allen wants to end the ‘blame game’

by Margaret Cabaniss

Over at the National Catholic Reporter, John Allen says that too much has been made lately of letters sent by officials in the Vatican to various American and Irish bishops, letters that appear hesitant about immediately reporting sexual abuse allegations…

What makes a ‘fast-track’ saint?

by Margaret Cabaniss

Many people have commented on the speed with which John Paul II seems to be progressing toward sainthood, with some raising questions about whether it’s appropriate. Over at the National Catholic Reporter, though, John Allen says that John Paul isn’t…

Remembering Sargent Shriver

by Ronald J. Rychlak

Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law of John, Bobby, and Ted Kennedy, founding director of the Peace Corps, and one-time Democratic vice-presidential nominee (among numerous other accomplishments), passed away this week. I only met him once in person, but we exchanged phone calls and…

Now Hiring: Exorcists

by Brian Saint-Paul

The Catholic Church in America is short of exorcists — there may only be 5 or 6 in the entire nation. While the office had been all but forgotten in the years following Vatican II, contemporary need is bringing it…

Bridging the gap between the press and the Church

by Margaret Cabaniss

Last week at the National Catholic Reporter, John Allen Jr. took aim at the “religious illiteracy” that still reigns among his fellow journalists (h/t Get Religion): On Tuesday a piece in the U.K.-based Telegraph carried the following headline: “Muslims will become majority…

Blogosphere reactions to the New York Times piece

by Margaret Cabaniss

When I saw Laurie Goodstein and David Halbfinger’s 4,000-word article on Pope Benedict and the sex-abuse scandal in the New York Times this morning, I knew it would be a big story — but I didn’t have the time then…

by Deal W. Hudson

Last week, when the USCCB meeting in St. Petersburg coincided with the Catholic Health Association summit in Denver, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) ran several stories based on the testimonies of bishops attending the meeting. One of these stories got a…

by Deal W. Hudson

Last week, when the USCCB meeting in St. Petersburg coincided with the Catholic Health Association summit in Denver, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) ran several stories based on the testimonies of bishops attending the meeting. One of these stories got a…

USCCB Official Disputes Cardinal George’s Criticism of Sr. Keehan and CHA

by Deal W. Hudson

Last week, when the USCCB meeting in St. Petersburg coincided with the Catholic Health Association summit in Denver, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) ran several stories based on the testimonies of bishops attending the meeting. One of these stories got a…

Fifty-Nine Thousand Nuns Oppose the Bishops on Health Care

by Deal W. Hudson

“Don’t mess with nuns!” is a comment I’ve often heard over the years from cradle Catholics who were taught by them. The question now arises whether the undecided Catholic members of the House will be influenced by the 60 nuns…

The Dicastery’s Latest (and Most Unusual) Addition

by Joseph Susanka

For years, I have been fascinated by the endless parade of officials that move through the Vatican offices and councils. There’s something comforting about it; I feel as though I can almost see the Church’s “always changing, yet ever the same” nature on display. And…

Wendell Berry: We need a cultural shift.

by Zoe Romanowsky

It’s not every day that a farmer and poet packs an auditorium so full that security has to turn people away. But that’s exactly what happened when Wendell Berry showed up at the University of Virginia last week, according to Ted Strong…

The Fall of the Archbishop

by Arturo Vasquez

Archbishop Rembert Weakland was a distant if familiar villain in my early teenage years. In the vestibule of the parish office where we held our Legion of Mary meetings, our liberal priests would put old copies of the newsletter of…

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