We are in a moment of unprecedented division and uncertainty in both the church and society. That's why Pope Francis could not have made a better choice to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he was "doubly disappointed" by the rejection from Kamala Harris of his invitation to the annual Al Smith dinner. But we are triply disappointed that Dolan did not have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump.
We all pay for nuclear weapons with our tax dollars. We remain silent. Our Eucharists remain undisturbed by the possibility of global annihilation. Our Earth, our God of peace, our consciences demand much more of us.
No other cultural entity has spent as much money and political capital fueling the war over abortion as the U.S. bishops. But, amid the endless fighting, any serious teaching, any opportunity to persuade, has been lost.
The future of Catholicism may not rest in the expressions of extreme conservatism afoot today, but the larger point should not be dismissed. Catholicism in the U.S. is in many ways a fractured enterprise.
U.S. Catholics are starting to see the type of climate action for which the pope has called, and the type of leadership promoted by the synod process that Francis has identified as the way forward for the church today.
Louisiana Bishop Douglas Deshotel's move to excommunicate a Catholic deacon who left the church after his son was molested by a priest was devoid of the humanity of Jesus.
The Texas attorney general's move against Annunciation House is essentially a lawsuit aimed at Catholic social justice teaching and Gospel values. But people who take Gospel instructions to heart can fight back.
Allowing priests to marry is hardly the answer to all of the church's demographic challenges or the broader and deeper problems of clerical culture. But it would be a significant step toward honesty and consistency.
