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This week and next, the Synod on Synodality is focusing on issues like LGBTQ inclusion and the possibility of opening the diaconate to women — some of the most contentious matters on the gathering’s monthlong agenda. But contrary to what some may have assumed, not all of the synod’s 364 delegates will have a chance to weigh in on these topics equally. In fact, synod organizers have assigned only some of the members to the small groups discussing these hot-button issues, after members indicated ahead of time what topics they’d prefer to focus on. It’s a dynamic that could skew the table reports issued on a given topic and, in turn, affect the text summarizing the views of the assembly that will be finalized at the end of the process. The possibility is a product of the unique way organizers...

Some Catholics are not sure what to think of biological evolution. They hear from their evangelical Protestant friends and neighbors that it is contrary to Christian belief, but they do not hear much on the subject one way or the other from authorities in the Catholic Church. For example, the topic is never explicitly mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My purpose in this article is to sketch in broad outline what the Church’s position has been and to answer some common objections to evolution made by Christians who are skeptical of it. When people speak about “evolution,” they can mean different things. So, one must distinguish several layers to the theory of evolution. First, there is the basic idea of evolution, which is that the present species of living things arose fro...

The recently convened Synod on Synodality at the Vatican has raised expectations among some Catholics that the Church is going to overhaul its traditional moral theology with an eye toward changing certain teachings that pertain to human sexuality. There are other issues in play as well, such as the ordination of women to the diaconate and/or the priesthood, but my focus here will be on the question of sexual morality in particular.  Pope Francis has warned that the Synod is not to be treated as a kind of parliament where participants will be voting on changing this or that doctrine of the Church. Indeed, he has emphasized that changing doctrine is not the goal of the Synod at all but is instead a grand exercise in dialogue and mutual discernment of where the Holy Spirit is leading th...

Solidarity, the news, ‘Kids, inc.’ Skip to content Hey everybody, Today is the second Tuesday in October, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. I was supposed to go to Israel next Saturday. Earlier this year, I was invited by friends to take a trip to Israel and the West Bank, organized by the Philos Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit that aims to encourage Christian engagement in the Near East.  I couldn’t wait to go.  I’d miss a few days of the synod on synodality, but I figured it was worth it to be where the Lord lived.  Given that “synodality” means “walking-together-along-the-way,” I figured that walking where the Lord himself walked would probably teach me more about synods than whatever I might learn over a few weeks of what’s happening in Rome. It was...

Readings:Isaiah 25:6–10Psalm 23:1–6Philippians 4:12–14, 19–20Matthew 22:1–14 Our Lord’s parable in today’s Gospel is again a fairly straightforward outline of salvation history. God is the king (see Matthew 5:35), Jesus the bridegroom (see Matthew 9:15), the feast is the salvation and eternal life that Isaiah prophesies in today’s First Reading. The Israelites are those first invited to the feast by God’s servants, the prophets (see Isaiah 25:6). For refusing repeated invitations and even killing His prophets, Israel has been punished, its city conquered by foreign armies. Now, Jesus makes clear, God is sending new servants, His Apostles, to call not only Israelites, but all people—good and bad alike—to the feast of His kingdom. This an image of the Church, which Jesus elsewhere compares t...

‘The Church belongs to Jesus Christ,’ he underscored. Archbishop Emeritus Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has written some brief reflections addressed to the participants of the Synod on Synodality, noting that the most difficult problems for the Church today do not have to do with structures but with “what a human being really is.” Writing for First Things in an article posted Oct. 6, the prelate responded to the question of what he would say to the synod delegates if he were there. The former archbishop of Denver pointed out to the 450 participants that “the most difficult problems facing the Church today are not matters of ecclesial structure and process. They’re tied intimately to Psalm 8 and the question of who and what a human being really is. Do humans have a created nature? Are our ...

As a rule, journalists are not fond of secrecy and powerful leaders telling their followers to avoid the press. This is especially true during high-profile meetings that could end up affecting the lives of a billion or so believers and institutions — parishes, schools, hospitals, you name it — affecting millions more. Thus, I have been waiting to see what the mainstream press, especially in its most elite forms, would do with the decision by Pope Francis to ask participants in the global Synod on Synodality to, well, zip their lips when it comes to talking to the press. At the very least, I expected in-depth coverage of this angle and a hint of muted outrage. Nope. Once again, we seem to have an interesting and highly symbolic Catholic story that is, apparently, only “news” to religion-mar...

There is an urgency and clarity about today’s Gospel that is often lacking in modern Christians, including the clergy. In this Gospel, the message is urgent, provocative, and clear: there is a day of judgment coming for every one of us and we simply must be ready. The message is a sobering one for a modern world that is often dismissive of judgment and certainly of Hell. Yet Jesus says clearly that the Kingdom of God can be taken from us for our refusal to accept its fruits in our life. Parables used by Jesus to teach on judgment and the reality of Hell are often quite vivid, even shocking in their harsh imagery. They are certainly not stories for the easily offended. And they are also difficult to take for those who have tried to refashion Jesus into a pleasant, affirming sort of fel...

The unique atmosphere of the holloways leads even scientific minds into states of treasure-seeking wonder. For Jefferies, the holy grail is goblin’s gold, a vivid green moss that glows in the dark like a carpet of emeralds. It’s been spotted in Hell Lane, which is connected to Shute’s Lane, before, and he remains hopeful he can find it – although, as he noted sadly, it’s not been seen since the 1960s. It’s not just rare plants that make their homes here. Badgers and rabbits have been seen on camera traps using holloways as highways between woodland areas, and the earthen walls of Shute’s Lane were clearly pockmarked with tiny holes where mason bees made their nests. “Insects, fungi, bryophytes; they all like these damp, stable conditions,” Je...

On July 30, I flew from my home in New York City to Anchorage, Alaska, to hitchhike to the Arctic Ocean. I am not mentally imbalanced. I am a reporter who covers the trucking industry. Let me provide some more context: Back in May, with my colleague John Paul Hampstead, I wrote a story about the controversial growth of drilling in Alaska and its effect on the $800 billion trucking industry. There’s a nasty freight recession slamming U.S. trucking fleets, but Alaska seems to be experiencing the opposite. Alaskan trucking executives told me in May that they’re planning on doubling in size. They want to hire not just Alaska residents, but folks from the Lower 48.  Sourdough Express, which was founded in 1898, is one of those companies looking to lavish pay raises on employees and hire mo...

Every Saturday evening in October, there will be a special evening recitation of the rosary ‘aux flambeaux’ in St. Peter’s Square, the first of which will take place today, 7 October, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary, and will be presided over by Cardinal Mario Grech. By Deborah Castellano Lubov All are invited to join in praying a rosary ‘aux flambeaux’ (by torchlight) in St. Peter’s Square every Saturday evening in October, a month especially dedicated to the rosary, a statement from the Holy See Press Office announced. The first of the weekly initiatives takes place tonight, 7 October, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary. Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod, will presid...