Phyllis Zagano

Phyllis Zagano holds a research appointment at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. Her most recent book is Just Church: Catholic Social Teaching, Synodality, and Women (Paulist, 2023).

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Pope Francis gestures as he addresses more than 1,000 diocesan leaders, both clergy and laity, May 9, 2019, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. Seated next to the pope is Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, vicar of Rome. (C

Francis is redesigning the church with new lay ministries

Just Catholic: When Pope Francis said he did not want to clericalize the laity, he meant it. Now, while too many bishops have their cinctures in a knot over who can approach Communion, Francis is redesigning the church.

Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 3. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Can the Catholic Church agree to change anything?

Just Catholic: The "no-change" folks have a lot of clerical support. Some "change" folks continue to speak, but many walk away. But we know the church can change because it has, usually to maintain clerical power.

Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass at St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad March 6, 2021. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis' Mass in Iraq could have followed older rite

Just Catholic: The Chaldean rite, with or without the words of institution, makes it clear that the Holy Spirit and the faith of the community create the Real Presence. But then there is the larger implication.

Pope Francis attends the first session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon Oct. 7, 2019, at the Vatican. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Women's voices necessary for genuine discernment at synods

Just Catholic: The history of synods and councils is trying to get everyone to come to the table with genuine interest in discussion and discernment. The difference lately? Women are allowed at the table.

Supporters of President Donald Trump storm into the U.S. Capitol in Washington Jan. 6, 2021, during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 presidential election. (CNS/Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Catholic mob rule and those who support it

Just Catholic: There are so-called Catholic blogs, internet sites, even broadcast networks still spreading falsehoods about the results of the recent presidential election. They did their best to foment the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

Jill Biden speaks Nov. 17, 2016, at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York (Wikimedia Commons/The White house)

Time to cancel misogyny, and The Wall Street Journal

Just Catholic: Dear Dr. Biden, I am sorry you were the subject of such a patently stupid op-ed the other day. I hate to see folks attacking your professional credentials, and for no reason at all.

Left: President Donald Trump waves after voting in the 2020 presidential election at the Palm Beach County Library in West Palm Beach, Florida, Oct. 24 (CNS/Reuters/Tom Brenner); Right: Then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick waves to fellow bishops as he attend

Adventures in clericalism with McCarrick and Trump 

Just Catholic: Whether about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick or President Donald Trump, their complementary stories provide background noise to the worldwide pandemic and save us the trouble of reading medieval history.

A woman wearing a mask for protection from the coronavirus walks outside St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 9. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Are women involved in a toxic relationship with the church?

Just Catholic: Fratelli Tutti is written by a man who took the title from a man who was speaking to men, and now this document is addressed to men. Well, why not? It's not women who are ruining the world.

"St. Francis before the Pope" (1390-1400, detail) by Spinello Aretino (Art Institute of Chicago)

'Fratelli tutti' does not include women, and neither does 'fraternity'

Just Catholic: Forget about women in church leadership. Could the Vatican maybe hire a few women editors? The latest embarrassment: "Fratelli tutti," title of the coming papal encyclical, is Italian for "all brothers."

Since the Amazon synod, what has happened to talk of synodality?

Just Catholic: There was lots of talking together and walking together at the recent Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region. Some 230 men and 35 women met, but on the interrelated questions of married priests and women deacons, the talking and the walking fell short.

Pope Francis walks in procession with new cardinals during a consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 5, 2019. (CNS/Vatican Media)

New cardinals? They'll be more of the same

Just Catholic: The good news is 15 new cardinals seem to be on the Roman horizon. The bad news is they are all men. And the fact of the matter is, if you are not at the table, you are not part of the discussion.

The ties that bind: How the Catholic Church can respond to the cult of personality

Just Catholic: The cult of personality is a very scary thing. No matter where or how it forms, it usually crashes and burns with the death or diminishment of the individual who gained a following.

Fr. Lou Phillips, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Windham, Maine, holds the Blessed Sacrament April 19 during a "drive-thru" Divine Mercy Sunday blessing in the church parking lot, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS)

While reopening rules get debated, the people of God starve for ministry

Just Catholic: We cannot have any expectation of ordinary pre-pandemic Masses soon, but the tease of guidelines and statements raises a false hope. And the minimal input of women to reopening plans is obvious.

The end of clericalism

Just Catholic: As the human race joins the rest of the planet in a struggle for survival, the church is also trying to find its footing. Why? Clericalism.

 

Pope Francis looks over an empty St. Peter's Square after leading a livestream of the recitation of the Angelus from the library of the Apostolic Palace March 22. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Two popes and a plague, just like the 14th century

Just Catholic: As most of the church sits in isolation, hoping and praying for an "all clear" message and the chance to resume life as it was, new ways of being church arise.

Pope Francis arrives for the final session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican in Oct. 26, 2019. (CNS/Paul Haring)

It is time to ask, formally, for married priests and woman deacons

Just Catholic: Apostolic exhortations neither clarify doctrine nor make law. If Francis is going to do anything about married priests and women deacons, he will — he must — use another type of document.

'The Two Popes' movie is better than the new 'three popes' book

Just Catholic: "The Two Popes" is feel-good fiction about the disparate personalities of Pope Francis and his predecessor. Now, a "three pope" book tries to pit Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah against Francis.

An advertisement in Italian for the Netflix movie "The Two Popes" is seen on a building near the Vatican Dec. 16. (CNS/Cindy Wooden)

After 'The Two Popes,' will the next movie be called 'The Schismatics'?

Just Catholic: Wannabe schismatics claim anyone who disagrees with them, beginning with Pope Francis, is a heretic. News flash: They are not "wannabe schismatics." They are already in schism.

After the Amazon synod, a circus-like sideshow

Just Catholic: The Austrian who stole the statues of Our Lady of the Amazon and tossed them in the Tiber is on a U.S. speaking tour. There seems to be all-in-one packaging in the message of the thief and his gun-toting supporters: They deny climate change and decry married priests, women deacons, and the pope himself.

Newly ordained priests kneel to receive Communion, depicted in an illumination circa 1390-1402. (British Library)

Married priests and women deacons: It's about law, not doctrine

Just Catholic: Laws on clerical marriage and the ordination of women arise from the same misogynistic swamp. And each is what canon lawyers call a "merely ecclesiastical law."

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