A result of the very long unpaid or inadequately paid period of apprenticeship, during which survival is dependent on adhering closely to programs established at the higher levels of the hierarchy, is training in avoiding independent thought, especially avoiding noticing when the results of research are not serving the general public.
Einsiedeln Abbey Church: Baroque Survivor of the Reformation
This heavily decorated church is a rare survivor of the iconoclasm of Huldrych Zwingli’s Swiss Reformation.
Slap-Stick Education
If my father were alive to today and read this account of my “education” under the care of the Christian Brothers, he would most likely say, “Good discipline in those days if you ask me. Anyway, you survived, didn’t you?”
The Catholic Church and Homosexuality: “Who Am I to Judge?”
While a recent article by a Jesuit intellectual makes a valiant attempt to open the door for a more conciliatory approach in the Church’s dealing with LGBTQ people, in the end it misses the mark.
Pastoral Pope, Pastoral Church?
In the first six months of his pontificate Francis I has proposed a radically different view of the Church. Will he live long enough or remain pope long enough for this view to filter down to dioceses and parishes around the world? Perhaps he needs the help of the people in the pews.
The Shoes of the Fisherman II: A Real-Life Sequel?
There are uncanny (and encouraging) similarities between the fictional Pope Kyril I and the recently elected Pope Francis I.
The Shoes of the Fisherman
This 1968 film, with its idealized vision of a truly humble and charitable pope, is worth watching in light of events in the Catholic Church today.
Stolen Church
Vatican II was striving to flatten the hierarchical structure that had rigidified over the centuries and in doing so create a Church characterized by the harmonious participation of all its members in bringing the message of love to the world.
Abbey Retreat
Westminster Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and Catholic seminary in Mission B.C., had been on my mind for some months before I contacted the Guestmaster and made arrangements for a three-day retreat at the end of February. I am writing a novel that is partly set in a monastery—the protagonist is a young seminarian and, much […]
Wrestling With Faith: Embracing the Tension Between Head and Heart
Ross Lonergan reflects on the tension between faith and reason in the modern age.