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Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger would have been a figure to be remembered in the history of the Church even if he had not been elected to the papal throne. In 2005, however, the Lord called one of the greatest living theologians, the man to whom Saint John Paul II entrusted the custody of Catholic orthodoxy for 23 years, to become Pope. Benedict XVI’s pontificate ended, traumatically, more than a decade ago as his earthly life ended a year ago, depriving the precincts of St Peter’s of that ‘service of prayer’ promised at his last general audience on 27 February 2013. Also in light of the new season under the banner of a claimed discontinuity at the dicastery for the doctrine of the faith, what has become of Ratzinger’s legacy in the current pontificate? This is a qu...

In his Christmas message at the midday “Urbi et Orbi” blessing on Christmas Day, Pope Francis speaks of how the Child Jesus reveals God’s tender love for each one of us, which brings about “the joy that consoles hearts, renews hope and bestows peace.” He prays for world peace and calls for every effort to stop violence and help those who are suffering. By Thaddeus Jones Greeting the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square from the central loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis offered his traditional good wishes on this Christmas Day with a message followed by his solemn “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, to the city and the world. The Pope said we look to the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem during these times, sadly marked by “sor...

Cardinal Fernández: Same-sex blessing ‘does not validate or justify anything’ Skip to content Lee en español. Church leaders have been in the grip of sharp debate this week, after the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published on Monday Fiducia supplicans, a declaration which offered a framework for clerical blessings of same-sex couples, and others living in relationships outside of marriage.  Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, pictured Sept. 30, 2023. © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk. Some bishops’ conferences and dioceses which had already given a green light to such blessings, in Belgium and Germany especially, saw in the document a validation of their approach to the issue, with some promising to defy the document by pub...

One of the standards the Church uses to measure the quality of her leaders is a simple line from Scripture: “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33). So it was for Paul. So it is now. So it is for local pastors and bishops, including the bishop of Rome. Confusion among the faithful can often be a matter of innocent individuals who hear but fail to understand the Word. Confused teaching, however, is another matter. It’s never excusable. The transmission of Christian truth requires prudence and patience because humans are not machines. But it also demands clarity and consistency. Deliberate or persistent ambiguity—anything that fuels misunderstanding or seems to leave an opening for objectively sinful behavior—is not of God. And it inevitably results in damage to indi...

“When the board approved this update, we viewed it as a reflection of our college’s commitment to live our Catholic values as a loving and just community,” the letter said. “We believed it affirmed our identity as an inclusive, Catholic, women’s college.”  “It is increasingly clear, however, that the position we took is not shared by all members of our community,” the email continued. “Some worried that this was much more than a policy decision: They felt it was a dilution of our mission or even a threat to our Catholic identity.” “As this last month unfolded, we lost people’s trust and unintentionally created division where we had hoped for unity,” the message said. “For this, we are deeply sorry.” The letter said that the school in January would begin a series of “listening sessions...

In the letter, he said that the lay ministers would lead the “liturgy of reception of the body at the church and the Rite of Committal at the graveside.” Duffy said the lay ministers will continue to be trained over the “coming months” and be commissioned to preside over funerals in their parishes. “We are very grateful to all those who have come forward for the formation and training and to the priests of those parishes for their involvement,” he said. Duffy asked for prayer for the new ministers.  He said that the ministers will be “commissioned publicly to act in the name of the Church” and added that “this is not a lessening of service to families and loved ones at the time of a death but, rather, a strengthening of the local parish commitment to accompany people at such a difficu...

Fiducia Supplicans states that the Church cannot permit a liturgical blessing for same-sex couples because it would “offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice.”  Yet, the declaration states that the prohibition on liturgical blessings does not preclude priests from offering “spontaneous” pastoral blessings, which are “meant for everyone.” It adds that such blessings are for those who “do not claim a legitimation of their own status but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.” The document emphasizes that such “spontaneous” pastoral blessings “should not become a liturgical or semi-liturgical ...