Conflicting Interpretations of Lumen Gentium 16

Fr. Gerald O’Collins, S.J., has recently claimed that Ralph Martin “egregiously misrepresents Vatican II’s teaching {in LG 16}.”[1. Gerald O’Collins, S.J., The Second Vatican Council, Message and Meaning (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical … [Read more...]

A Comment on Vatican II’s Perfectae Caritatis and Its Aftermath

It has been 50 years since the close of Vatican II, and certainly the Church has found great hope for the future in the Spirit-guided accomplishments of that great ecumenical Council. The Church has experienced authentic renewal in her … [Read more...]

The Understanding of Revelation in “Dei Verbum” and the Response of Faith

While this notion of revelation, understood as the manifestation of ... Christ himself, has been with the Church since the very beginning. There have been many confusions and reductions over time that have altered the very essence of the … [Read more...]

“Nuclear fission in the…heart of being”: The Eucharist as the Sacrament of Transformations in the Teaching of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s use of the image of nuclear fission—...in a positive sense, in order to explain the Eucharistic mystery—is contemporary and striking, and apt to convey the quiet, but immense, power of the Mass. The Sacra … [Read more...]

What Is the Right to Religious Freedom?

The most fundamental right in the area of religion is that which should be attributed to God, what we owe to God. God is absolutely sovereign.   Catholics of the United States are more than ever asserting a right to religious freedom, … [Read more...]

Are doctrine and morals too controversial?

January 2013 Editorial

What happens to a parish, and to its parishioners, when the pastor refuses to preach Catholic doctrine and morals on the grounds that they are now “too controversial”?   Cardinal Francis George and Cardinal Timothy Dolan are well known fo … [Read more...]