At the synod, the Church’s culture war looks a lot like class war
October 12, 2018
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Progressive bishops want to replace ‘rigid’ codes and speak of sexuality ‘without taboo’. How very bourgeois
The synod is all too respectable
October 11, 2018
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When Pope Francis was elected five years ago, he announced that he wanted to build a “poor Church for the
How the China deal betrays the Second Vatican Council
September 27, 2018
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The Vatican’s agreement with Beijing signifies the abandonment of Vatican II’s political vision
The irony of the China deal
September 27, 2018
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Last week, the Vatican signed a concordat with a totalitarian regime. The Chinese government, which has harassed and tortured millions
American football: a lesson in spiritual combat
September 13, 2018
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High-minded members of the professional class disdain the sport, but they miss the point
The wonderful dread of American football
September 13, 2018
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Football is a great sport – so great that fans of other games have stolen its name, as if they
I’m not ashamed to be called a ‘new ultramontanist’
August 30, 2018
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In upholding immutable truths, the ultramontanists of the 19th century were the true progressives
Confessions of a ‘new ultramontane’
August 30, 2018
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It is distressing to contemplate how much influence journalists have on Catholic life, but in truth this has long been
The abuse crisis casts doubt on the whole post-Vatican II settlement
August 16, 2018
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Since 1968, Church leaders have tried to preserve a fragile truce. But repeated compromises have fostered a culture of deceit
A truce that cannot hold
August 16, 2018
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Too many Catholic leaders have treated Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s alleged crimes as an isolated issue. Cardinal Donald Wuerl told an
Why ‘Uncle Ted’ didn’t want to be called a father
August 2, 2018
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The Archbishop’s easygoing persona was a social strategy – and a theological stance
Matthew Schmitz: The avuncular archbishop
August 2, 2018
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Theodore McCarrick did not want to be known as a father. He encouraged young men and boys to call him