On August 1 it was announced that Pope Francis changed the catechism of the Catholic Church to make the death penalty unacceptable. On October 27, a shooter killed eleven people worshipping in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. I have wanted to write about the death penalty since the Pope’s proclamation, but first the sex abuse crisis…
Read more

October 14 was a significant day for Vatican-watchers, Catholics, the long-suffering people of El Salvador, and people of all religious faiths or none who have been inspired by the life, words, courageous witness, and ultimate martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero. That day, Archbishop Romero was finally formally proclaimed a saint and martyr by the Catholic…
Read more

Christopher Lamb in The Tablet brings a certain British irony to his observations of the synod on youth: “It seems like going on retreat, with a generous helping of church politics thrown in, and a complicated Roman structure.” Yes to all of it. I sense that the lay people and reporters in Rome experienced the…
Read more

I realized I’m angry about anger these days. We all know the drill when it comes to women: We are to suppress our anger – at least in public forums – or risk being vilified as hags, harpies, or harridans. We may shrug off these labels with a “sticks and stones…” retort, but think what…
Read more

Has a certain ring to it, does it not? After All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, observe All Survivor’s Day. Begun by the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), these nationwide and international witnesses will take place on Saturday, November 3. Most will be from 3 to 5 pm at cathedrals, but…
Read more

As we protest and/or witness against the Church we have, I like to keep before us the Church we want: one, needless to say, with a multi-gendered approach to ministry and new possibilities for reaching people. I would like to start “small” by describing one way our small Eucharistic community does just this. This particular…
Read more

CNN is not a station I normally watch except on election nights when MSNBC has a commercial. But I was intrigued when Stephen Colbert had Brooke Baldwin as a guest and she explained the special series she is hosting this fall. I knew there were many women running for office in the midterm elections, but…
Read more

I’m still held in thrall by the “ministry of encouragement” and by the challenge to envision what a Church that includes full priesthood and leadership of women might look like. I know many have talked and written of possible visions, but I’d like to add one from a church already functioning. Of course, yes, it…
Read more

The question for this post is whether the image of nuns in popular culture prevents imagining women as priests. Or, is the image of priest so male that women cannot find a place in it? In our small faith community last week I was commenting on my experience of Rome a few years ago: nuns…
Read more

On the Sunday after the report came out about the egregious sexual abuse perpetrated by the clergy on youth in Pennsylvania, our priest began Mass by lighting ten circles of ten candles for the victims, praying for them, and apologizing on behalf of the Church. In the days preceding that Sunday, he had sent a…
Read more