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For years now, Pope Francis’ governance of the Roman Catholic Church has been seemingly designed to drive the church’s conservative and liberal wings ever further apart. Thus the persistent question hanging over his pontificate: How will he hold this thing together? By opening debate on a wide array of hot-button subjects without delivering explicit changes, he has encouraged the church’s progressives to push the envelope as far as possible, even toward real doctrinal rebellion, in the hopes of dragging him along. At the same time, by favoring the progressives in his personnel decisions and making institutional war on the legacy of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, he has pushed conservatives toward crisis, paranoia and revolt. On both fronts it’s unclear whether the papacy’s weakening author...

St. John Henry Newman’s name was oft taken in vain during the recent Synod on Synodality for a synodal Church. Thankfully, the American bishops showed it due reverence at their recent meeting in Baltimore, voting in favor of Newman being declared a doctor of the Church. “There was a figure who was floating around in the synod and who wasn’t really named, and it was Cardinal Newman,” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth, Australia, one of the nine “president-delegates” of the planetary phase of the synodal process in Rome. “This whole idea of the development of doctrine is really key to us moving forward.” Perhaps Archbishop Costelloe wasn’t listening but Cardinal Newman was invoked frequently. Throughout the long synodal process, whenever a divergence from Catholic teaching was propo...

Becciu’s Nixon moment: In media blitz, cardinal insists he is not a crook Skip to content With the Vatican City court due to deliver its verdict in the landmark financial crimes trial in just three weeks, defendant Cardinal Angleo Becciu has once again insisted on his innocence and said he “has faith” he will be acquitted of all charges. Cardinal Angelo Becciu appearing in an interview with Rai News, Nov. 22, 2023 Over the past week, the cardinal and his legal team mounted a full court press in Italian media, with Becciu giving a rare TV interview and his lawyers seeding friendly coverage in local and national newspapers. Becciu stands accused of embezzlement and abuse of office, conspiracy, as well as perverting the course of justice. But while the cardinal and his team are predicting tot...

Notes from the Author: 1)  First and foremost–I offer this post to Our Lord through the intercession of His Mother and Sts. Lazarus, Mary, and Martha:  in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world, for our repentance, and for an enduring peace throughout the Middle East and the world as quickly as possible. 2)  It has been a while since I have posted.  My previous post can be read here:  https://zistezesto.wordpress.com/2023/05/20/chapter-4-exploring-little-and-some-well-known-sites-in-the-holy-land-mass-in-christs-tomb-the-head-of-st-james-the-sky-path-of-the-paraclete-the-riddle-of-siloam/  3) As a reminder, copy/paste GPS Coordinates listed below into Google Maps to see or travel to each location. 4) I apologize for any annoying ads wordpress.com aut...

St. Cecilia’s story is a breathtaking tale of heroism and romance that models the life of a young woman lost in love for Christ. “Why can’t women become priests?” It’s a question I am asked constantly by the young women with whom I work in my nonprofit. Most of the time it is not phrased combatively. They simply want to know, and most likely no one has ever explained it to them outside of simply “that’s the way Jesus did it.” Not an incorrect explanation, but also not satisfying for these girls, told by the world since birth that women belong in every role a man can have. So, I utter a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit to grant me the right words, and I explain as faithfully as I can the role of the sacramental priesthood. Christ established the priesthood of the Church and we cannot alter i...

COMMENTARY: It is hard not to read ‘Ad Theologiam Promovendam’ as a doubling down on the kind of theology that emerged at the Synod on Synodality. The latest motu proprio from Pope Francis, Ad Theologiam Promovendam, articulates the vision of the Pope for the reform of modern Catholic theology. Directed specifically at the Pontifical Academy of Theology, the Nov. 1 document nevertheless has significance for the broader development of theology within the Church at large. Therefore, it deserves to be analyzed for what it seems to be advocating.  I say “seems” because the document is rather short and is sparse in specific details or definitional clarity. Therefore, it requires us to read between the lines a bit to get a sense of what it is really saying. This further requires us to put t...

Skip to content When those who believe in the Christian view of the world—or any view that involves the survival of the soul—use “departed” and “passed away,” we are using literal language. Death is the end of this bodily life, but it is not the end of our human being. November is traditionally a month for remembrance of the dead. In the northern hemisphere, it is the time of the falling of leaves (even in southeast Texas where I am) and the steady narrowing of the sunlight such that six o’clock seems like ten. On western Christian calendars the first day of the month is All Saints, a day set aside to remember those saints whose race has been finished, to use Pauline language. The next day is All Souls, a day to remember all the faithful departed and not just those whose virtue and faith w...

Now that I’ve had a bit of time to readjust to my normal rhythm and to think through the rather extraordinary experience of the last month in Rome, I would like to share some impressions of the Synod on Synodality, even as I will endeavor not to violate the pope’s request that we refrain from talking about particular participants and votes. So, I will limit myself to commenting on the published document that the synod members approved and on my own interventions during the deliberations.   The summary statement very accurately expresses the fact that the overwhelming concern of the synod members was to listen to the voices of those who have, for a variety of reasons, felt marginalized from the life of the Church. This motif was the common denominator in all of the preliminary ses...

Detail from a late 18th-century painting by by Francisco Goya of Saint Francis Borgia performing an exorcism. (Image: Wikipedia) For decades, we tried canceling the devil, refraining from talking much about him, or bothering much with him at all. Catholics thought they could get by without exorcisms, relegating them to the superstitious past. Demonic attacks seemed to belong in Hollywood films, not in the average parish. However, that decision backfired, with the need for exorcisms now spiking worldwide. Catholics are rediscovering the nature of spiritual warfare, not only in formal exorcisms but also in the prayers of deliverance recited by laity.    The need for a formal, major exorcism is rare. Everyone, however, needs deliverance and protection from the enemy’s influence. Dur...

Jesus closes out the Church year by reminding us how he will close out our lives on The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year A. Once again this Sunday, the Church gives us two views of our Last Judgment: St. Paul’s and Our Lord’s. They are not two different realities, but two visions of the same reality. Jesus’s tale about the end of our days is not really a parable — it’s more of a metaphor. Jesus says: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Will he be on a literal throne? Maybe. Or maybe it’s an analogy like the sheep and goats, and what it really means...