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The Diocese of Amarillo assigned Frank Pavone and other Priests for Life employees to sexual harassment and “safe environment” training in 2010, after it received reports accusing the priest of misconduct toward young female subordinates. Two women who filed such reports say the training was not enough, and the diocese should have done more to look into their allegations against Pavone, who was at that time a cleric incardinated in the Amarillo diocese. For his part, a spokesperson for Priests for Life told The Pillar this week that “false accusations” against Pavone are “unfortunate,” and that Priests for Life remains committed to its pro-life work. —Mary Worthington is a former employee of Priests for Life, who told The Pillar last month that she was frequently sexually harassed and grop...

No, the journalism question discussed during this podcast was this: Why are these developments — especially that stunning “Imagining a Heretical Cardinal” essay by Paprocki — receiving (as of this morning) zero coverage in the mainstream press? By the way, it’s important that Bishop Paprocki is the chairman-elect of the Canonical Affairs and Church Governance Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It may also be relevant that, in 2017, Paprocki and McElroy clashed — in print — over the Springfield bishop’s decision not to allow Catholics to receive Holy Communion if they are openly living in same-sex marriages and, thus, rejecting centuries of Catholic doctrines on marriage and sex. Why the lack of coverage? I have several theories. This story would become big news ...

French prosecutors announced Saturday that Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard will not face criminal charges after he admitted to abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens told AFP that “the case was closed due to the statute of limitations.” Ricard, the president of the French bishops’ conference from 2001 to 2007, publicly acknowledged Nov. 7 that he had behaved “in a reprehensible way” toward the girl when he was a pastor in the Archdiocese of Marseille in the late 1980s. On Nov. 11, the Vatican said that Ricard would be subject to an “investigatio praevia,” or preliminary investigation, following the admission. The Vatican probe is believed to be ongoing. According to his official Vatican biography, the cardinal is a member of the Dicastery for the Doctri...

As a restless Spirit who denied the Love of God because he chose to be like God, the Devil never tires of seeking to destroy a soul from within. Since he did not create man, his only recourse is to harm our physical, spiritual, and mental faculties. His insatiable desire to mock God through the ruining of our souls by any means necessary should, if we are aware, place us on guard for his empty works and promises. In the following excerpt, we see how far Screwtape is willing to guide Wormwood to destroy a soul: For the first time in your career, you have tasted that wine which is the reward of all our labors — the anguish and bewilderment of a human soul — and it has gone to your head. I can hardly blame you. I do not expect old heads on young shoulders. Did the patient respond to some of y...

Among the history revisited for Black History Month, Catholics would do well to recall that there are currently six African American Catholics who are on the path to sainthood. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, who serves as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recalled these holy lives last month, stating: “For models of lives transformed, we can always turn to the saints. To this end, the USCCB has advanced beatification and canonization causes of six inspirational African American men and women: Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Henriette DeLille, Venerable Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Sister Thea Bowman.” Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1...