Robert Royal
An ‘Aide-Memoire’ for Pope Leo
Offering advice to a pope is a presumptuous thing – for anyone. In the Church of synodality, however, where everyone is supposed to have a voice – and be listened to – perhaps not so presumptuous as once upon a time. Still, such counsel should…
Attacks on the Sacred and a Kinky Vatican Official?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ng5xHVMA4g On this episode of The Prayerful Posse, Raymond Arroyo is joined by Fr. Gerald Murray and Robert Royal to confront rising attacks on churches and Christmas displays in Europe and the Church’s muted…
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,…
Two for Thanksgiving – The Catholic Thing
Stephen P. White There is something fitting about the date of Thanksgiving. I don’t mean that there’s anything particularly special about the fourth Thursday of November except that it invariably falls in the last week of Ordinary Time. And so…
The Church of What’s Happening Now
In his address to the U.S. bishops at their annual meeting in Baltimore last week, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, argued – nearly to the point of obsession – that Vatican II has to be regarded as the guide to…
Why St. John Henry Newman Matters Now: The Church’s Newest Doctor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLq8bPRg-o Robert Royal reports from St. Peter’s Square on the historic day Pope Leo declares St. John Henry Newman the 38th Doctor of the Church. Amid the celebrations on All Saints’ Day, Royal reflects on…
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…
The Two Forms of Christian Service
Christianity is a religion of paradoxes. One is the strange relationship between the natural world that we see and the supernatural world that we do not. The latter is where God resides and is our ultimate home. At the same time, it is…
Contemplation and the Cross – The Catholic Thing
In Herodotus’ Histories from the 430s BC, we read of a wise Greek philosopher and political thinker, Solon. While traveling, Solon met the King of Lydia, Croesus, who was known for his immense wealth. Croesus asked the philosopher what he…
Embracing the Call – The Catholic Thing
People often ask me what they can do – or what should we all be doing – to deal with the many challenges we face, not only the obvious ones like wars, injustices, poverty, and so forth, but fundamental questions about what human life is and what…