May 22nd, 2021
This week I knew I was going to write about catechists because last week Pope Francis created such an “installed” ministry. I was not sure how I felt about it, frankly. Another crumb to the laity, mostly the women, who do this? Then I saw the photograph of Joseph Ilboudo and his wife, Lucienne Kabré…
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May 15th, 2021
Sometimes there’s help from unexpected quarters. Take the USCCB draft document on communion for politicians who do not oppose abortion. Please. Who decided to help with this? Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria, S.J., head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In a May 7 letter to Archbishop José H. Gomez, the president of…
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May 1st, 2021
Right now I have sixteen tabs in my browser gathering material as I consider a USCCB plan to address the Joe Biden communion issue at their June meeting. I wrote last week about an article I haven’t even linked to again: “I must admit that if Father Louis Cameli had come down differently on communion…
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April 27th, 2021
Just as spring brings us a fresh – and exhilarant – experience of the world and newly minted lenses through which we can see more deeply and fully into lives and landscapes around us, I propose we also try out new lenses to see ourselves and our own mission for inclusion and ministry in a…
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April 17th, 2021
Many people are still writing about Hans Küng and church blessings for those in same-sex unions, but I’m going to shift back to the priesthood. Specifically, to Pope Francis’ call for a three-day symposium in February 2022 to discuss the issues involved. I have to hand it to him; he acts on his belief that…
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April 13th, 2021
“Am I able to trust that the tombs of my life are all gateways to resurrection?” – Sr. Joan Chittister The silence after Easter seems so different from the silence of Lent. We have just been through a terrible and magnificent drama. We have been through a period of wrenching, profound questioning followed by a…
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April 10th, 2021
The only two books with broken bindings in my Catholic bookcase are my sister’s Baltimore Catechism and On Being a Christian by Hans Küng. Much used, the books reflect an ideological transition in the lifetime of the Vatican II generation. Küng’s was a gift from my late friend Mary Ellen Anderson; the binding is broken…
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March 23rd, 2021
[Editor’s Note: This blog post is originally about a Philadelphia-specific action for women’s ordination. To read how you can participate in our worldwide Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, no matter your geographic location, scroll to the end!] On the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus in which he is told he is God’s beloved,…
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February 25th, 2021
[Editor’s Note: This post is the fourth and final installation in our weekly Black History Month series, which have appeared on Thursdays in February in addition to our normal Tuesday and Saturday blogs.] In the context of Black History Month, we want to talk about the experiences of African-descendant Latinas. This time we want to…
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February 20th, 2021
We’re getting our share of snow as I write this. My apartment looks out on Rittenhouse Square, a classically designed park that has become a dog run this pandemic winter. I find myself watching the various groups that gather: at 8 am on the west side, 9:30 on the south, etc. The dogs chase each…
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