Category: Pope Francis

You probably know a lot about how two of Pope Francis’ deepest concerns are peace and mercy. Maybe if you’re Irish, you might know Roger Casement, at least as the nationalist who went to Germany during World War I to get military aid for the Easter Uprising. There’s a lot more to Roger Casement. Our…
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Thursday, I learned that the cancer that killed my mother was not going to kill me, at least not yet. That made it hard to concentrate. In the month since the diagnosis and even surrounding the surgery, I could exist in denial and happily churn out blogs. But Wednesday this week, when there was so…
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It seems almost surgical, the excision of women’s ordination from the conversation. This week, when I watched the BBC documentary “The Women Fighting to be Priests” on YouTube, I was thrilled with the stories of two Roman Catholic Women Priests, Fr. Anne and Olga Lucia Alvarez. Then Kate McElwee of WOC calmly presents the Vatican situation,…
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“Francis is Stuck. Let me count the ways.” That was my first title for this blog. I saw no change in what he said to a gathering of people who work at America magazine. Deliberately diverse, the group posed questions one after another. Executive editor Kerry Weber was third and set up her first question:…
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Were you expecting me to write about anything else? Two weeks ago, I picked Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne as the most progressive of the ten nominees for President of the USCCB. He got 30 votes on the first ballot and 37 on the second. My second choice was Daniel Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, because he…
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They surprise me, these Bishops. A measure of transparency surrounds the USCCB meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. A news release lists items on the agenda for the plenary sessions with links to relevant documents. There’s a live stream and social media coverage. WOW! But before I knew all this, I made a list of some…
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Remember when Pope Francis warned us not to gossip? “Gossip is war. Poor Holy Spirit! (Imagine) the work He [sic] has with us with our habit of gossiping!” That was in 2020, and a not-infrequent complaint from Francis in his first years as Pope. He’s not bringing it up so often now. I wonder if…
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Pope Francis made news this week with a promise to add two women to the committee that considers the appointment of bishops around the world.  This conversation with Philip Pullella of Reuters has the typical Francis off-the-cuff airplane feel; he says they’re “opening up a bit.” Cindy Wooden for CNS notes that there are several…
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Terrifying! The headline on AP’s article by Nicole Winfield was reinforced by “unsourced speculation” that Pope Francis might be getting ready to resign. Visiting Pope Celestine V’s tomb (he resigned in 1294), appointing enough new cardinals to have a majority in the college, planning a briefing for ALL cardinals on the rules he just issued…
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Another Laywoman” is to emphasize that most, if not all, the women in the Vatican that I have written about are religious sisters. Sisters and nuns are laywomen and we rejoice in their placement in or very near the locus of decision-making in the Church. But they are different from most other laywomen. Pope Francis…
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