The Holy See declared itself on Friday against the brutal regime of Nicolas Maduro, capping an extraordinary few months of masterful maneuvering by the bishops of Venezuela.
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Having already had my say on the shortcomings of the Spadaro/Figueroa analysis - and several others more thoroughly dismantling the argument - I would add a remark on the style, rather than the substance, of the essay.
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Making saints is the entirety of the Church’s mission. How official saints get “made” - or better recognized - in the life of the Church is thus of supreme importance.
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If Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro was not the editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, his recent attack on the “ecumenism of hate” he diagnoses in the United States never would have been published in that venerable journal.
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Tolerance for religious minorities was written into the very establishment of Canada, more than a century before the country was established in 1867. Today, religious liberty and religious pluralism are under siege the world over. The 150 years – and more – of the Canadian experience have much to offer.
Read MoreThe visit two weeks ago to Rome of the leading bishops of Venezuela may well have been unprecedented, a highly public visit aimed at, apparently, clarifying that the pope was on their side, and not that of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
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The Six Day War, which gave the Arab-Israeli conflict and the wider Middle East its current shape, is an anniversary that is going mostly unmarked this week in the Christian world.
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Sixteen Muslim countries – Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen – simply forbid Israeli passport holders entry. Period.
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Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state for President Bill Clinton, argued that American foreign policy neglected the role of religion, and that it should be engaged as a potential force for peace.
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A month ago I wrote about how recent silence from the Vatican on the crisis in Venezuela indicated a confusion about how to proceed. In the intervening weeks developments in Venezuela have rapidly deteriorated.
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In the great slaughterhouse of the twentieth century, the sheer scale of lethal evil, organized above all in the communist regimes, appeared to have loosed Satan himself in the world.
Read MoreThe case of current martyrs, being delivered weekly by jihadis and others, is a different kind of thing. Most of them are entirely unknown beyond their own family and friends until after they are numbered among the dead.
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Pope Francis must choose how he addresses the Muslim community when he visits Egypt this week. He has two models: Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Pope Benedict XVI.
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On Wednesday of Holy Week, Maduro’s men burst into the Chrism Mass of Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, shouting threats and physically assaulting the cardinal. It would therefore seem time for a denunciation from Pope Francis against the Maduro regime.
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A recent, and long needed, restoration of the most sacred chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a small sign of the progress that has been made in the relationship among the Churches which control the shrine.
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It seems reasonable to ask those of us anxious about what Amoris Laetitia means to explain what we think is at stake, and why we continue to encourage clarification of contested points.
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Cardinal William H. Keeler was laid to rest on Tuesday in Baltimore, a mere 40 miles from Washington, D.C. The last cardinal from Baltimore – the first diocese of the United States – Keeler’s passing may also be a sign of the growing influence of the federal government in the life of the Church.
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The anniversary week of Pope Francis has prompted many commentators to list the highlights of the pontificate. The pope's foreign policy - especially in Syria - should not be added to these lists. Vatican diplomacy has resulted in Assad being more secure in Damascus, with his staunch ally Putin playing a greater role in the Middle East.
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