Ken Briggs

If the laity could capture the dynamic concept of a pilgrim church, that would be an astounding, liberating achievement. Unfortunately, they appear to reflexively dismiss an opportunity to assert themselves. 

NCR Today - A thousand suggestions and hints feed the presumption that clergy are set apart and above the laity. Stopping it seems to me the major objective if abuse is to end.

I’m sure the bishops are earnest, but they are out of their depth, and most young people who are leaving the church bear little to no resemblance to the small group of under-30s who were invited to participate.

NCR Today: The drift away from the church by young people is a major worry in itself. Combine that with the huge damage to the church's image, and the job of recruiting ever new classes to Catholic colleges arguably becomes much harder.

NCR Today: It seems to me that reform at this grave hour could be well served by a hard re-examination of "indelible character" with regard to ordination.

NCR Today: Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen was the picture of the modest, ground-level pastor of pastors. He was not a bishop looking for ways to fight the power or defy his superiors.

NCR Today: Renewed awareness that the greatest push-back against owner control and for labor dignity wouldn't have happened without the dedication and tenacity of Catholics who were inspired by the church's 19th-century social doctrine therefore seems more than timely.

NCR Today: The professions of shock that a person basking in money, publicity and acclaim would end it all are likely to reflect a jarring blow to the free enterprise armor.

My mental picture of Memorial Day in 1945 is a spare but deeply etched scene of joy and tears. Tears of loss mingled with sighs of relief that soon all the killing would stop.

Spring Fund Drive: It would be unimaginable that a revivalist spirit could be achieved without a consensus around Vatican II, which would require powerful participation by laity. Stand by NCR to stay tuned. If you are reading this, you are most likely someone who cares deeply about this struggle and for NCR's vigilance in covering it. Please, share your support today.

NCR Today: While bishops express alarm and side with some aspects of gun control, grassroots congregants have reason to believe Christian teachings support gun ownership and use.

NCR Today: I find the Graham enshrinement in the rotunda appalling in today's ever increasing religious pluralism and in light of his bruises from the past. Nothing injured Graham's reputation more than his collusion with presidents and high-ranking elected officials. 

Appreciation, updated: The Billy Graham I knew as a journalist was a generous spirit endowed with striking personal gifts who, like many natural leaders, sometimes got in over his head. 

NCR Today: Ashes speak of the inner self: quiet, somber and watchful, tinged with spiritual foreboding and a summons to self- honesty. The valentine signals an opposite impulse for outward expressions of affection conveyed by words and sweet tokens.

NCR Today: What pope other than Francis could we imagine assigning his own special prosecutor to investigate his own words and actions?

NCR Today: Francis' harsh and dismissive words for his Chilean critics could portend a major stumbling block: an inability to face clergy sexual abuse and cover-up when it hits home.

NCR Today: Martin Luther King Jr.'s words left an indelible mark on our eyes and our ears. Words did not suffice for him, however, unless they were backed up by street cred.

NCR Today: The only way that the church's Gospel of life can be transmitted is by meeting such a new terrain where the consciousness of humanity is based on a set of suppositions about the way the world works that didn't exist even 200 years ago.

NCR Today: The pews are emptying, the churchless "nones" are on the rise, and the hunt is on for why. Have the assumed convictions lost their grip or weren't they really there in the first place?

NCR Today: In the 16th century as now, authority did not permit ordained clergy to speak out against issues that Rome considered settled. That obstacle continues to blunt valid discussion of differences.