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In an interview book released in Spanish, Pope Francis revealed details, including voting results, from the 2005 conclave. Did the Holy Father violate the obligations of conclave secrecy? Yes and No. It’s an issue that sheds light on a wider issue in the Church, namely, the limits of law on papal power. Pope Francis revealed that “Ratzinger was my candidate” in 2005, but that there was group attempting a “complete maneuver,” in which votes for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would block Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. “They were using me, but behind them they were already thinking about proposing another cardinal. They still couldn’t agree on who, but they were already on the verge of throwing out a name,” Pope Francis told Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal for the book The Successor. Excerpts...

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When the pope speaks, Catholics tend to listen. Confusion often arises, however, when we do not have the tools to know how to properly listen. Using examples from Pope Francis’s pontificate (and some from other pontificates) we will outline the various types of papal writings in their scope, purpose, and doctrinal weight. One way to approach reading papal documents is to think of them as differing genres. Much like one would not read a newspaper, a poem, and a cookbook the same way, one also should avoid thinking of an apostolic constitution, a brief, and a homily in the same fashion. As you will notice, though, there is a complexity to sorting papal documents due to the inherent overlap in authoritative lens, style, and reasons for publishing the document. Many documents will fit within m...

It is near impossible to overstate the significance of Easter. It stands out as primary and unique for at least three reasons. 1. While the focused celebration of Easter is for a set time—first an intense week (eastern Christianity has the lovely name of ‘Bright Week’), then stretching out to fifty days—this celebration is entirely predicated upon permanence. Indeed, this celebration is only possible if it is perpetual. 2. What is celebrated here is everything that is most worthy of celebration, and therefore this festival gives reason for all festivity. Any true joy finds its deepest root in the joy of this celebration. This is not exaggeration; it aims to be a precise formulation. 3. Not surprisingly then, this festivity is not just a matter of ‘something worth celebrating’ in life. East...

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio – articles – email ) | Mar 25, 2024 We are all familiar with the saying from the classic Godfather movie. Whacking an enemy is “business, not personal!” There is merit in invoking good business practices in our national—and international—controversies. But neglecting the personal consequences of our choices is a mistake. When Mario Cuomo, the pro-abortion Catholic, was the governor of New York in the early 1990s, then-auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughan of the Archdiocese of New York warned that he risked the fires of hell for his policies. Governor Cuomo misrepresented the warning and said the bishop “condemned [him] to hell.” In private conversation, a wise theologian recognized a positive aspect of the governor’s clever distortion. “Well, he’s startin...

‘She’s much more who she is,’ her husband told EWTN News, following Tammy’s ‘investigation of Catholicism.’ Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson spoke about Easter as the “core story of humanity” in an interview with EWTN News In Depth hours before his wife, Tammy, joined the Catholic Church this Easter at Holy Rosary Church in Toronto. Tammy Peterson’s faith was formed through praying the Rosary while she struggled against a rare form of cancer. Peterson is known for his biblical lectures on Genesis and Exodus in particular, which often appeal to both Christian and secular listeners.  When asked by EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn about what he thought about the Christian Easter message, Peterson said that it’s “the core story of humanity.”  [embedded content] “I’ll speak p...

‘Easter people’, the news, and the ‘tion’ season Skip to content Hey everybody, What a gift! “Noli me tangere,” Correggio, 1525. Public domain. For me at least, it was a gift to experience the liturgies of the Triduum, a gift that thousands of people entered the Church at Easter, and a gift to renew my own baptismal promises, as my children and Mrs. Flynn renewed theirs. When the liturgy tells us to renew our baptismal promises, it might not seem like a big deal. But that renewal is a recommitment to our call and obligation to live as Christians, to “work so that the divine message of salvation is made known and accepted by all persons everywhere in the world,” as canon 225 puts it.  In our family, the octave of Easter is a good time to actually assess whether ...

‘Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.’ (Philippians 2:8-9) The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in some respects looks like a traditional Mass with a rite (the veneration of the cross) added. It is not. First of all, it is not a Mass because no consecration of the Holy Eucharist takes place within it. In keeping with ancient tradition, Good Friday is the one day of the year the Church does not celebrate Mass. The Eucharist distributed at Communion on Good Friday has been previously consecrated and reserved last night — Holy Thursday evening — at the altar of repose. In comparing the appearance of the liturgy of Good Friday with the Mass, we can note: there is ...

Jesus of Nazareth was born into a violent world. Much like ours, only different.  At the time Jesus was born, Judea and Samaria and Galilee had been under the control of the Roman empire for about sixty years. King Herod the Great ruled over these regions as a “client king” of Rome—meaning that he answered to Caesar and ruled in Caesar’s name.  Rome dominated its empire, usually by threats of violence, and (when necessary) by actual violence. Herod the Great dominated his kingdom in the same way, by threats and by force. Herod was an evil, violent man. He killed his favorite wife, Mariamne, and three of his sons. When forty young religious Jews tore down a golden eagle that Herod had put in the Temple, Herod arrested them and burned them to death in a public execution.  When...

What happened on this day, and how do we celebrate it? Every time we say the creed, we note that Jesus “descended into hell.” Holy Saturday is the day that commemorates this event. What happened on this day, and how do we celebrate it? Here are 12 things you need to know. 1. What happened on the first Holy Saturday? Here on earth, Jesus’ disciples mourned his death and, since it was a sabbath day, they rested. Luke notes that the women returned home “and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). At the tomb, the guards that had been stationed there kept watch over the place to make sure that the disciples did not steal Jesus’ body.  Meanwhile …  2. What happened to Jesus while he was dead?  According to the Ca...

Not today, Satan. This Sunday is Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of The Lord and it’s a day to celebrate, because Satan has been unmasked for good, as a pathetic figure who only gains false power from lies. Let’s review what just happened. Satan thought St. Peter was his crowning achievement, but God knew better. Peter was the head of the Apostles, so Satan wanted to single him out, to strike the shepherd so the sheep would be scattered; he thought if he could get Peter, he could “sift” them all “like wheat.” Satan did his work the way he always does, and he thought he won. Satan preys on love of comfort, and Peter slept in the garden; he provokes through our drive for power, and Peter lashed out with his sword; he bets that we love ourselves more than God, and the “Rock” of the Church den...