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In the past 25 years, few duos in the U.S. Catholic Church have been more dynamic and adept at identifying its problems and tackling its big challenges than Archbishop Charles Chaput and Francis X. Maier, his longtime senior adviser.  The pair’s collaborations included launching dynamic lay apostolates, primarily during their time together in the Archdiocese of Denver; digging out the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from a deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars; and managing the fallout from the clergy-abuse crisis in both Denver and Philadelphia. Archbishop Chaput, who went so far as to tell the Register in 2020 that “without Fran there’s no me,” says the key to their successful working relationship is their willingness to see things as they really are and proceed accordingly. “The r...

5th Sunday of LentBy Fr. Victor Feltes “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” Jesus says, “Where I am, there also will my servant be.” His statement is descriptive, prescriptive, and predictive. He describes what is the case, he prescribes how we should act, and he predicts what will be. His servants can be found where Jesus has been before. They should serve him where Jesus is now on earth. And one day his servants shall be where Jesus is in heaven. So where has Jesus been? Next Sunday is Palm Sunday when we will remember the way of his sorrowful Passion; how he mentally agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, how he faced religious and secular trials, criticism and mockery, how he carried and painfully end...

But scholars say marriage benefits society, minorities included “Marriage fundamentalism” advances “white supremacy,” according to a George Mason University professor. “I theorize that marriage fundamentalism, like structural racism, is a key structuring element of White heteropatriarchal supremacy,” Professor Bethany Letiecq wrote in the Journal of Marriage and Family. “Marriage fundamentalism can be understood as an ideological and cultural phenomenon, where adherents espouse the superiority of the two-parent married family,” she (pictured) wrote. She did not respond to two emailed requests for comment on her views sent in the past three weeks. The Fix asked if she would support government support for marriage, such as tax breaks, if they were better tailored to benefit all racial groups...

Almost 30% of Generation Z women identify as LGBTQ, according to a new Gallup survey. Could that possibly be true? Well, the Gallup survey, which also found that 22% of Gen Z overall identifies as LGBTQ, is no outlier. In recent years, data has clearly shown a rising number of Americans identify as LGBTQ, in no small part driven by an enormous percentage of Gen Zers who identify that way. A survey released in January by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 28% of Gen Zers consider themselves LGBTQ. Meanwhile, among high schoolers in 2021, only 74% said they considered themselves straight, according to a study released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What is driving this huge surge? One possibility is societal acceptance. Same-sex marriage was legal...

Belize awaits new bishop after puzzling resignation Skip to content The Catholic diocese that covers the Central American nation of Belize saw the resignation of its only auxiliary bishop this week, two months after the death of the bishop who had guided it since 2017. Holy Redeemer Cathedral, the mother church of the Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan, Belize. Ruben Wong via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Pope Francis accepted the resignation March 13 of the Illinois-born Bishop Christopher Glancy, who had served as an auxiliary in the Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan since 2012. Share Glancy, a member of the Clerics of Saint Viator (Viatorians), is 63 years of age, more than decade away from his 75th birthday, when bishops are expected to submit their resignations to the pope. In line with its us...

A man named ‘Anne’, synod everlasting, and she’s a lady Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DR Happy Friday friends, Today is Friday of the fourth week of Lent, but tomorrow is the memorial of Blessed “John Anne” of England. What we know about “Anne” is that he was martyred in York on March 16, 1589, for the capital crime of being a Catholic priest. But apart from the circumstances of his arrest and execution, we know little for certain about him — even the name is believed to be an alias under which he was traveling at the time of his arrest.  “John Anne” was arrested the previous year, having been apprehended in the house of a Mr. Murton, and after being imprisoned in York Castle he was executed alongside another priest, Fr. Robert D...

The readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B look at the way the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is built into the very warp and woof of the cosmos. That’s a beautiful lesson but also a difficult one, because it says that we will only be fruitful if we are willing to suffer with Jesus and for those he loves. Before looking at how the Gospel begins, please notice how it ends. The Gospel reading ends with an amazing glimpse at the inner dialogue of the Trinity, which shows the “humility” of God — the Son glorifying the Father and the Father honoring the Son. This is from the 12th chapter of John, just after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Holy Week has begun, the week that Jesus begins by hearing “Hosanna!” and ends by hearing “Crucify him!” John’s Gospel doesn’t share the st...

To help pave the way to the National Eucharistic Congress July 17–23, 2024, we are thrilled to present the American Eucharistic Witnesses. These are holy men and women who lived, loved, and served on the very soil upon which we now stand. They all testify—in unique and powerful ways—to what it means to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist and go on mission with him for the life of the world. Each month through July 2024, we will feature a new witness. Old and young, men and women, representing different cultural families and vocations, these men and women show us—in living color—what holiness looks like. We are also thrilled to partner with American artist Connor Miller, who is creating an original woodcut print of each witness to help us visually engage with this creative new series. ‍...

In the course of an insightful essay on Vladimir Putin’s challenge to civilization, Italian historian Roberto de Mattei, observed that, amidst the general decline of the West, “the Church…. appears as a wasteland.” That certainly seems to be the case with institutional Catholicism in Germany and Belgium, where bishops violate the profession of faith they made before their episcopal ordination by declaring that the Church has been teaching falsely on certain moral matters, and by suggesting that settled doctrinal questions are not settled. And it’s not hard to see how Rome-based Dr. de Mattei could feel as if he were living in an ecclesiastical desert: the priest in charge of catechesis in the Diocese of Rome, Father Andrea Camillini, recently said “It’s time to give up the delusion of omni...

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio – articles – email ) | Mar 11, 2024 We’ve seen the bumper sticker: “COEXIST.” Like “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” it’s hard to argue with the aspiration. But the slogans are purposely ambiguous and blur the distinction between good and evil. The proponents expect believers to surrender to their Godless secular religion. The survival tactics of Nicodemus help us navigate a politically correct hostile environment. Nicodemus appears several times in the Gospel of St. John. Nicodemus is a holy subversive. Nicodemus was a Pharisee in good standing. “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night.” (Jn. 3:1) He was a company man, a team player, and a cog in the wheel of the Pharisee ruling c...

I am convinced that our most significant response to the challenges of our age will be in the most ordinary practices. I do not say the obvious but the ordinary. Ordinary is a great word; it means what pertains to the regular order. We live in a time when what used to be the regular order of human life—and which arguably was ordinary precisely because it was largely natural—is no longer regular. It is a serious situation when what should be ordinary has become extra-ordinary, not common or expected. But here there is also reason for real hope. What was once ordinary, because of its very naturalness, is therefore in some sense ready at hand for the choosing. There is something thrilling about this situation. It’s like discovering a shoe or piece of clothing that was custom made for you; all...