Pope Francis
Pope Leo’s New Notes – The Catholic Thing
The late American Catholic novelist Walker Percy once remarked that the contemporary vision of a human being is a brain connected to a pair of “genitals” (the actual term he used is a bit salty for the present site). There seems to be nothing in…
A Consistory to Revitalize the College of Cardinals
During a decade of service at the Vatican Secretariat of State, I was constantly perplexed by the Holy See’s unwillingness or inability to utilize already existing ecclesial structures for effective governance. As the Cardinals meet in Rome over…
For Cardinals in Consistory This Week: Mending Wall
Pope Leo has summoned the world’s Cardinals to a Consistory this week, a return to normal practice that was mostly sidelined for the past dozen years in favor of “synodal” gatherings. So now that the Jubilee Year has concluded, the current pope…
Benedict’s Maestro Makes Music for Leo
High culture – and the spiritual appreciation of high culture – returned to the Vatican this month. Pope Leo XIV is quietly restoring some recent traditions, such as personally celebrating Holy Mass on Christmas morning, not done since 1994.…
Ordering Our Loves for the Good of All – Religion & Liberty Online
Earlier this year, Vice President J.D. Vance triggered quite a firestorm when he mentioned the Christian concept of ordo amoris, also known as the order of charity. “There’s this old-school—and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the…
Leo Amid the Heresies – The Catholic Thing
Pope Leo has been traveling in Turkey and Lebanon, doing what popes do on such occasions: Visiting religious and political leaders, signing agreements about further “dialogue,” calling for peace and respect for human dignity. All good things,…
In Search of the Historical St. Francis of Assisi
Pope Francis left the Church with multiple controversies, some that he inherited, some that he induced. Indeed, amid the complaints about clericalism and “backwardists,” the considerable presence of LGBT and feminist concerns in recent Church…
What World and Time Is This?
One of the better ways of trying to understand a writer or speaker is to imagine what audience he thinks he’s addressing, and what he believes that audience most needs to hear. For the popes of the last half century or so, I think I pretty much…
Is Pope Leo Francis 2.0? More Synodal Meetings & “Spectacles”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi0BBP5KuPY In this special episode of Prayerful Posse, Raymond Arroyo convenes Father Gerald Murray and Robert Royal from Rome to ask the question on many minds: Is Pope Leo Francis 2.0? The trio examines Pope…
Dilexi Te and Loving the Poor – Religion & Liberty Online
Pope Leo XIV’s first major proclamation, Dilexi Te (I Have Loved You), is an apostolic exhortation addressed “to all Christians” on caring for the poor. Pope Francis was preparing this exhortation when he died. Leo finished the project, and he…