Introduction Over the past year since its release, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (hereafter AL), has elicited a great deal of consternation among the faithful of the Catholic Church. The controversy surrounding the d … [Read more...]
Divorce, Remarriage, and “Discerning the Body”
On Pope Francis’ Interpretation of 1 Cor 11:27-34 in Amoris Laetitia
May 16, 2017 by Dr. Matthew J. Ramage, PhD
Questions Answered
May 16, 2017 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Question: If a couple is in the state of mortal sin because of cohabitation before marriage without confession, is the marriage still a valid sacramental marriage? If not, when does it become a sacramental marriage? Answer: This q … [Read more...]
Lumen Fidei and the Revelation of God’s Love as the Foundation of Our Faith
April 8, 2017 by Dr. Jeffrey Froula
Introduction In his encyclical letter, Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis greatly emphasizes the importance of believing in God’s love for us. The prominence of this theme is indicated by the title of the encyclical’s first chapter, "We Have Bel … [Read more...]
Spiritual Communion: Freed from the Dust of Centuries
December 20, 2016 by Cardinal Paul Cordes
On the Pastoral Milieu: Extreme Alternatives to Approaching the Lord’s Table From hearsay: The vigil of All Saints’ Day in the early 20th century. A small farm in Westphalia, Germany. Tomorrow’s Mass is one of the few times in the year in w … [Read more...]
Mercy is a Serious Matter
October 13, 2016 by Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap
Pope Francis announced a "Holy Year of Mercy" which began on Dec. 8, 2015, and will end on Nov. 20, 2016. Many imagine that a year of mercy means that people can lift their arms up to the heavens, crying out for God's mercy, and a … [Read more...]
A Different Perspective on Amoris Laetitia
September 27, 2016 by Richard P. Maggi, Esq.
Because so much of what has been written about Amoris Laetitia has concerned what is considered the controversial eighth chapter on divorced and remarried Catholics, and others living in irregular situations, the primary purpose, beauty, … [Read more...]
Amoris Laetitia: A Deceptive Joy
May 28, 2016 by Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap
The recent publication of Pope Francis' document on the family and married life, Amoris Laetitia ("Joy of Love") has caused consternation, confusion, and deep anguish among Catholics. They wonder: Are the Church’s timeless teachings on m … [Read more...]
Spring Reading for April 2016
April 14, 2016 by Book Reviews
What Would Pope Francis Do? By Sean Salai, S.J. (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2016), 144 pages; $14.95. Reviewed by David Paternostro, S.J. Paul: Windows on His Thought and His World. By Maria Pascuzzi; (Winona, MN: Anselm … [Read more...]
The Pillars of Lent
February 1, 2016 by David Vincent Meconi
The purifying Season of Lent is quickly upon us. We human persons are enabled to do something that lower creatures cannot, and higher creatures need not: to sacrifice and thus to learn to delay partial gratifications for even greater … [Read more...]
Make Your Hearts Firm This Lent
February 1, 2016 by Maria Cintorino
During Lent, the Church calls the faithful to conversion by calling to mind the image of Christ being drawn into the desert by the Spirit. There, for forty days and forty nights, Jesus prays, fasts, and is tempted by the devil. By … [Read more...]
The Prophetic Power and Practice of Jubilee
A Gift of Shalom
December 28, 2015 by Dr. Marc Tumeinski
Introduction: “Rich with Joy and Peace” St. Luke's description of Jesus' proclamation of His mission tells us that, on a sabbath day in a synagogue in Nazareth, the Lord stood up to read ... “He has sent me ... to proclaim the accep … [Read more...]
About The “Year of Mercy”
December 8, 2015 - November 20, 2016
December 14, 2015 by David Vincent Meconi
Pope Francis has declared the period between the recent Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2015) until the Feast of Christ the King (November 20, 2016), the "Year of Mercy." Rooting the Church’s renewed focus on Divine Mercy in … [Read more...]
Priests and Penance: Confession and Confessors
December 14, 2015 by Fr. Donncha Ó. hAodha
The Call to Confession “Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center, once more, in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands.”[1. Francis, Bull of Indiction of the Extra … [Read more...]
Mother of Mercy
November 29, 2015 by Jonathan Fleischmann
On March 13, 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis announced that on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary—December 8, 2015—the Universal Church would enter an Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy. Why did his Holiness cho … [Read more...]
Integral Ecology and the Ecological Virtues in Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’
November 29, 2015 by Dr. Matthew J. Ramage, PhD
Introduction Several weeks ago, I made a conscious decision to refrain from reading too much secondary literature on Pope Francis’s impending encyclical, Laudato Si’. And by noon on the day of its release, I was almost depressed. A flood of … [Read more...]
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