Go to Part I Now that we have traced the nature and the theological implications of obedience and ecclesial authority, let us now look at authority and obedience as complementary responsibilities. Church documents emphasize that … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – October 2022
September 30, 2022 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Church Teaching and the Theological Ethics of Life Question: There has been much talk about the Church changing her teaching on Humanae Vitae. This apparently is due to a recent document from the Pontifical Academy of Life: Theological … [Read more...]
To Be Transformed by God and Others
May 27, 2022 by Fr. Pius Youn, OP
The mission statement of the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center in Tucson, Arizona, which is affiliated with the University of Arizona, is “To be transformed through an encounter with the Spirit of Truth and the Love of God.” Having bee … [Read more...]
Conscience and the Service of Authority
Drawing Pastoral Insights from Joseph Ratzinger
January 27, 2022 by Fr. Niccolo Florencio
There is, at present, a crisis of authority within the Catholic Church, expressed no more clearly by the clamor for democratization outfitted by the various movements of protest which attempt to raze the “old guard” of bureaucratic est … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – February 2022
January 27, 2022 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
What Is the Church’s Magisterial Teaching? Question: Do we owe religious submission of intellect and will to those teachings of the Pope contained in documents (addresses, allocutions, letters, etc.) that were not published in the Acta A … [Read more...]
The Remarks of Pope Francis on the Legal Recognition of Homosexual Unions
November 13, 2020 by Dcn. Tracy Jamison, OCDS
In the documentary “Francesco,” which premiered on October 21, 2020, Pope Francis is recorded in an interview as arguing for the legal recognition of homosexual civil unions: “Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re c … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – March 2019
March 10, 2019 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
What Is the Institutional Church? Question: I hear a lot about the “institutional church.” It seems to be a phrase trotted out by people who want to see the moral law changed or to question authority. What is the “institutional churc … [Read more...]
Is There Such a Thing as Episcopally Sanctioned Adultery?
The Attack on Marriage, Morality, and the Eucharist
October 29, 2018 by Jeffrey Tranzillo
Prior to the publication of Amoris Laetitia (hereafter AL) in March 2016, certain influential German bishops had a direct hand in persuading a willing Pope Francis to incorporate a subjectivistic view of conscience and discernment into the … [Read more...]
Integrating Pope Francis
October 2, 2018 by E. Tyler Graham
Introduction The Pontificate of Pope Francis has been full of surprises.[1. This essay was written over the summer as an exercise in synthetic theology with a goal of better understanding and interpreting the Mind of the Magisterium. Only … [Read more...]
Kazakhstan Bishop Schneider Broadcasts Seeds of Faith Around the World
May 18, 2018 by Roseanne T. Sullivan
His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C, has been referred to in the National Catholic Register as “one of the leading voices of fidelity, continuity, and tradition in the Church today.”[1. Pentin, Edward. “How Bishop Athanasius Sc … [Read more...]
Frank Sheed on Church Teachings
April 28, 2018 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
We hear much discussion of late about church teaching, especially with regard to marital issues, and whether statements of the Pope violate classical norms. Cardinals issue their doubts; sixty theologians inaugurate what they call … [Read more...]
Further Dubia for the Confused
September 27, 2017 by Rev. Basil Cole, OP
The Holy Father is given very special graces to guide the Catholic Church, being the successor of Peter. He is the vicar of Christ to which I adhere. Yet, when reading his latest exhortation, Amoris laetitia, I feel confused. In 1998, … [Read more...]
The Stability of the Cross
May 1, 2017 by David Vincent Meconi
The movements of Holy Week and Eastertide are enacted to bring the Christian people to the stability of a pierced love that cannot be shaken. Year after year, the Cross beckons and asks if we are faithful in our love, if we can stand with … [Read more...]
Munus Docendi
March 9, 2017 by David Vincent Meconi
Fr. Karl Rahner (1904-1984) began as a faith-filled and imaginative theologian, someone who, even now, still provides unmatchable insights into the nature of divinity, and into the searching soul who longs to cleave to God. Rahner worked … [Read more...]
How the Synod of 2015 Ignored the Real Problem, 50 Years in the Making
January 15, 2016 by Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap
It’s hard to believe now, but at the beginning of the year, Synod 2015 was predicted to be a possible game changer for the Church. According to various media reports, the Synod promised to be: “stormy,” “intense,” a time of “great expectatio … [Read more...]
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