Preaching the Bad News
Christians are called to evangelization – which means preaching the “Good News.” But do we need to first preach the Bad News before people will accept the Good News?
What Pope Francis Gets Right—and Wrong—About Poverty and Wealth
Pope Francis urges us to help the poor. But does he understand how poverty and wealth happen?
Would the Latin Mass Fill the Pews?
Imagine a world in which the Extraordinary Form of the Mass became ordinary. How would that impact Mass attendance?
Does Doctrine Change?
The historical record of Church teaching does pose a challenge: Christian doctrine is unchanging, yet history has shown that changes do occur.
On Deposing Popes: A Historical Review
This article is also available as a printer-friendly PDF document. Asking the Question Throughout his five-year reign, Pope Francis has been a controversial figure. He has pushed for novelties and innovations to both the papacy and the Church...
The Papolatry of Cardinal Ouellet
Over a month ago Archbishop Carlo Vigano, former apostolic nuncio to the United States, made a number of accusations against Pope Francis and others regarding their alleged cover-up of the Cardinal McCarrick affair. More recently Archbishop...
The Scandal of the Church
In the second century, the Church faced its first great heresy: Gnosticism. This confusing and eclectic system of beliefs threatened to destroy the Church in its infancy. Among Gnosticism’s tenets was the conviction that the material world is...
Diocese on a Diet: Reducing the Temporal Power of the Bishops
As frustration and anger toward bishops grow, Catholics are asking what they can do to resist the corruption that has infected the episcopate. Ideas include prayer, fasting, writing letters, and protesting at USCCB meetings. All these are valid...
Sharing the Good News When the Daily News Is Bad
Many years ago, a couple of Mormon missionaries came to my door. My policy has always been to invite them in for a chat. I do this for two reasons: 1) I’m able to evangelize them about Catholicism, and 2) they can’t be knocking on anyone else’s...
Want to Grow Spiritually? Get Physical!
When I was in high school—long, long ago—I had a youth pastor who warned us that the spiritual life wouldn’t always be easy. Sometimes we wouldn’t have the enthusiasm we had as teenagers. As a young, newly-committed Christian, I heard his...
Selection Bias and the Process of Picking Better Bishops
“He’ll be a bishop someday.” That was the prediction in the parish I attended fifteen years ago. Our pastor was a nice man – likable and affable. No one had anything negative to say about him. The best word I can use to describe him is “safe.” He...
The Power of Jesus’ Name
When I converted from Evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism, I made a lot of theological changes in my life. I expected this, but I didn’t expect that I would be making a lot of sociological changes, too. Every group has its own subculture...