Clergy Sexual Abuse

Cardinal George Pell, Peace At Last

Besides being a champion for orthodox Catholicism in an age of liberalism, Cardinal Pell will be remembered primarily as the Prince of the Church who went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Viganò Speaks: the ‘Infiltration’ Is Real

Jonah began his journey through the city, and when he had gone only a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.  When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose … Read more

Wolves in Shepherd’s Clothing

It was only a year ago that the Pennsylvania grand jury released its report on sexual abuse by priests. It was only a year ago that allegations broke about Theodore McCarrick and the network of sexual abusers who have infiltrated the highest levels of the Church. It was only a year ago that Archbishop Viganò’s … Read more

Is It Time to Abolish the USCCB?

“If I must speak the truth, I feel disposed to shun every conference of Bishops: for never saw I Synod brought to a happy issue, and remedying, and not rather aggravating, existing evils…” — St. Gregory of Nazianzus, 382 A.D. Heedless of St. Gregory’s warning—or perhaps unaccountably ready to entertain openness to “existing evils”—Vatican II … Read more

Bishop Tobin Attacked for Speaking a Plain Truth

A few days ago, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence sent out a message that within living memory absolutely no mother or father, liberal or conservative, Christian or Jewish or secular, or anyone old or young would have considered to be controversial. He said, gently, that it was not good for parents to take their children … Read more

Anti-Polish Bigotry in Contemporary Scotland

The most recent and internationally-reported physical and verbal assaults on Catholic clergy and churches in Glasgow has occasioned not only vehement condemnation at home and abroad, but has also rekindled controversy over the long-standing theme of anti-Catholic bigotry and discrimination in Scotland.  Within this broad context lies the subtext of anti-Polonism, which has been brought … Read more

Benedict’s Essay Is an Implicit Rebuke of Amoris Laetitia

The turbulence surrounding the sex abuse debacle in the Catholic Church was recently addressed in Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s April essay “The Church and the Scandal of Sex Abuse.” Pope Emeritus Benedict’s thoughtful meditation has been justly praised for unveiling one of the root causes of this protracted calamity. Critics of the letter, primarily close … Read more

A Crisis of Faith Cannot Be Met by Liturgical Protocols

The unprecedented message of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI regarding the crisis of the clergy contained a surprising illumination that is so incisive it will probably be ignored for years: All problems connected to Holy Orders are related in some way to the Eucharist. Benedict wrote: Our handling of the Eucharist can only arouse concern… What … Read more

How the Sexual Toxicity of the 1960s Has Harmed the Church

I have been rather astounded and amused at the controversy, indeed outright denial, surrounding Pope Emeritus Benedict’s recent essay which attributes a large portion of our current crisis in the Church to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. I react in this way simply because the evidence for the identification of the source of our … Read more

Grandfather Knows Best: Pope Benedict on Clergy Sexual Abuse

The White House announced on March 28 that the month of April is designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. On its official website, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains: “Every April, child and youth serving organizations, including Catholic dioceses, parishes, and schools, participate in National Child Abuse Prevention Month to highlight the … Read more

Benedict’s Essay: The Voice of a True Father

Why the uproar from some Catholic pundits regarding the recently released essay on the abuse crisis from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI? I think it’s pretty simple—regardless of what else one thinks of Benedict (and most of the critics were never fans of his), he speaks and writes with a voice that is truly paternal. The … Read more

Male Homosexuality and Priestly Formation

There is no homosexuality. Of course, there are homosexuals, but there is no one thing, no one condition or syndrome that is homosexuality. If we are to address the “homosexual problem” in the Church, then we must first understand what we are talking about, and whatever that is, it is not a thing called homosexuality. … Read more

German Bishops Use Abuse Crisis to Promote Dissent

According to a recent study conducted at the University of Ulm (Germany), the number of minors who suffered sexual abuse within the German Church is much higher than previously assumed. In comparison with other countries, however, this is not surprising—it was to be expected. More surprising has been another finding in the study: the number … Read more

What Newman Can Tell Us About the Cardinal Pell Verdict

The scene in the London courtroom in 1852 might have been out of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, with the defendant in simple clerical black standing in the dock before the bewigged representatives of ancient justice. But one of the judges, John Coleridge, a great-nephew of the poet, saw behind the stooped figure of John … Read more

Nebraska AG Issues 400 Subpoenas for Church Records

On February, 26, 2019, Nebraska’s Attorney General served more than 400 subpoenas on Catholic churches, schools, and institutions in the state of Nebraska. The subpoenas requested twenty-two years of records concerning inappropriate conduct with children. Recipients were ordered to deliver the records within three days. Nebraska has three Catholic dioceses. All three dioceses already provided … Read more

The Colorado AG Targets the Catholic Church

Catholics in Colorado were recipients of a recent bombshell in the form of an agreement between our three Catholic dioceses and the State Attorney General’s office. According to the agreement there is to be a new “independent review” in the state of every priest’s file going back seven decades to 1950. The argument for this unprecedented … Read more

Understanding and Combating the Francis Effect

Early in his pontificate the Catholic Left gushed about the Francis Effect, which mainly reflected their hopes and dreams that the new Holy See leadership would advance their “progressive” agenda. Progressive is usually code for departing from the teachings of Scripture and Tradition. And they predicted this would attract new converts and reverts who had … Read more

Celibacy and Priests with Same-Sex Attraction

In recent conversations concerning the Church and the priesthood, it seems that the main focus when discussing the issue of celibacy is the idea that the one who “chooses” a celibate life is one who willfully forgoes the enjoyment of sex. While this feature of celibacy is without a doubt true, looking at celibacy from … Read more

Haunted by McCarrick

Theodore McCarrick the ex-cardinal has now been defrocked—just in time for the media coverage swirling around Pope Francis’s sex abuse summit this week.  But McCarrick the kingmaker, McCarrick the narrative-spinner, still lives on—a spirit too towering to retire. In 2002, McCarrick worked the media as the “attractive public face” of the sexual abuse crisis.  The … Read more

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