Robert Royal
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…
Of Light and Darkness – The Catholic Thing
Yesterday was the winter solstice, the point at which, because of variations in the way that the Earth orbits the Sun, night is longest, the “darkest day of the year.” (It’s also my birthday, and for some who have followed me over the years, I…
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…