The obvious problems with the recent opening of the ministries of lector and acolyte to women by Pope Francis has already been the subject of a number of articles, including one that I wrote earlier this week. As I reflect further on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini, I see more and more disturbing implications of [...]

The Biden Catholics at the National Catholic Reporter are feeling righteous. The editorial staff has demanded that the Catholic supporters of President Trump “confess their complicity in the failed coup.”  Beginning with the fact that there was no attempted “coup,” the NCR crowd has provided much high-flying moral outrage worthy of an SNL sketch—“Sackcloth and [...]

If anyone asserts that this sin of Adam…is taken away either by the forces of human nature or by a remedy other than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God in his own blood, made unto us justice, sanctification and redemption…let him be anathema; for there [...]

More than 38 years ago, Ralph McInerny and Michael Novak founded a new journal called Catholicism in Crisis, later renamed Crisis Magazine. In its opening editorial, entitled “The Present Crisis,” they wrote, “The crisis in which we find ourselves is one of faith and theology, especially concerning questions of the temporal order and the role [...]

On Saturday, Pope Francis released an apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio. In this letter, he announced the transfer of several financial competencies within the Vatican from the Secretariat of State to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA). The Secretariat of State has been embroiled in several criminal [...]

When an Episcopalian cleric-cum-Dartmouth professor criticizes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, it’s a safe bet our prelates have done something right. Indeed, such a man—one Randall Balmer—wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times titled, “In What Moral Universe Does Biden Require a Catholic Task Force when Trump Got a Free Pass?” No need [...]

In his letter to a confused Church in the city of Corinth, Saint Paul wrote this exhortation: Whoever… eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of [...]

Despite their terrible suffering, not just in recent years under ISIS, but after centuries of being treated as second-class citizens, Iraqi Christians are happy people. There are two things that are guaranteed to make them smile, if not actually laugh out loud. The first is to ask them what they think will happen to the [...]

Many Catholics were probably surprised to see Pope Francis’s name appear on the op-ed page of The New York Times. (Then again, maybe not.) The article—which was actually an excerpt from his new book Let Us Dream—confirms what we already knew: the coronavirus pandemic has weighed heavily on the Holy Father’s mind. Like all crises, [...]

It has always surprised me that the mainstream press is so down on Theodore McCarrick. In fact, one would expect them to take his side. An elderly gay man trapped in a homophobic institution, taking young men to his beach house so he can seduce them… I’m surprised The New York Times hasn’t asked Mr. [...]

Note: This past weekend, as many parts of the world continue to suffer from restrictions on the Mass, thousands of Catholics in approximately seventy cities across France—up from nearly 40 the previous weekend—gathered in front of cathedrals and churches for the third consecutive weekend to remind the government that Mass is essential and to pray for a [...]

Joe Biden, the self-declared President-Elect, is widely portrayed by the media as a “good Catholic” for his liberal position on immigration, with expectations that he will reverse many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies once he takes office. “Biden has vowed to reverse limits on temporary workers, loosen visa restrictions on international students, halt border [...]

Canadians, unlike their feistier counterparts in the United States, tend to be law abiding, even to the point of submissiveness. Revolution was never in the genes. When the government urges them to wear masks to help ease the threat of spreading the Covid-19 virus, they are expected to comply, and comply without complaint. A parishioner [...]

Pope John Paul II was unquestionably the most dominant figure in Catholicism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He loomed large over every aspect of Catholic life, directing the Church through one of her most troubling times. And his influence transcended the confines of the Church; at the height of his popularity in [...]

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a bloated, corrupt organization teeming with left-wing bureaucrats who don’t have the Church’s best interests at heart. Crisis Magazine has said so on several occasions. It remains our opinion that all Catholics—laymen, priests, and bishops—would be better off without it. That said, the USCCB’s committee elections at this [...]

“There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him.” — Sun Tzu Sexual predators, like spies, are masters of deception and deceit. Both operate in secrecy, perpetuate a cover story, manipulate their victims through lies, and maintain a facade of respectability. Often, sexual predators become prime and easy [...]

How did it happen? That’s the question the McCarrick Report was supposed to answer. How many of the bishops knew about his beach house? Who turned a blind eye? Who lied to protect one of their own? Nobody expected the Report to answer those questions, and so nobody will be disappointed. Still, it was revealing. [...]

The professed intent of the McCarrick Report, released yesterday after much delay, is to shed some light on just how this man managed to rise to such status and power within the Church, all while his habit of sexual abuse were known to so many of his brother-bishops. In another time, in other circumstances, that [...]

The night after Election Day, rioters took to the streets of Portland armed with guns, knives, hammers, and fireworks. Reporters on the ground said that the group had gathered to “rally against authoritarianism,” which, in effect, was a rally against the sitting president of the United States—a “fascist,” in the minds of his more excitable [...]

Bishop Robert Barron and Father James Martin are the two most dominant figures in American Catholicism today. Bishop Barron is the affable producer of popular videos on Catholicism through his Word on Fire ministry; Father Martin is a media darling and a Vatican favorite for his outreach to gay Catholics. As just one indicator of [...]