• God Chose You to Live at This Moment in Church History
COMMENTARY: We can’t let the dismal scandal we are living through weaken our faith. The sex-abuse scandal has led many to lose their faith, and as we learn more about the extent and nature of the corruption, many more will be tempted to leave. Those of us who are “red-pilled” need to be cautious about how much we share with those who are not “red-pilled.” - March 30, 2019

• The Amazon Synod: A Trojan Horse to Destroy Priestly Celibacy?
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes feels he is close to completing a project conceived of many years ago and tenaciously carried forward: the project of obtaining permission from the Vatican to ordain ad experimentum married men of a certain age (one hypothesis is over 50 years old) to account for the lack of priests in the center of the remote Amazon jungle. - March 29, 2019

• See How They Love One Another
Earlier this week, the world learned that Pope Francis is uncomfortable letting lay people kiss his papal ring. A video shows the Holy Father awkwardly and abruptly pulling his hand out from under the bowed head and approaching lips of one layperson after another. He had no such qualms about receiving the obeisance of the priests and religious he met in the same reception line. If you don’t already know, some people have very strong opinions about this. I don't. - March 28, 2019

• The bizarre ring-kissing controversy
A few quick comments on the Papal Controversy of the Week: the odd refusal to allow people to kiss his ring: First, understand that Pope Francis often does allow people to kiss his ring. The video captured during his trip to Loreto went viral in large part because it was unusual, in several respects. Like many bishops, the Pope is not altogether comfortable with the ring-kissing tradition. But he has not set a policy against it. As an anonymous aide said, “Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he does not.” - March 28, 2019

• Following up: might cardinals have been authorized to disclose conclave secrets?
Responding to my post from Monday, about cardinals who violate their oaths by disclosing the secrets of a papal conclave, several readers have made the observation that it’s possible Pope Francis gave permission to one or more cardinals to speak about the voting process. That is at least a theoretical possibility; the rules of the conclave do allow the elected Pope to dispense the cardinals from their vow of secrecy. - March 27, 2019

• Ten steps every bishop can take to renew the Church
Everyone has a role in Catholic renewal, but there can be no question that the greatest spur to an authentic renewal of the Church is episcopal leadership. If results throughout the long history of the Church are any guide, however, even bishops often do not know the concrete steps they should be taking to move their dioceses closer to this perennial goal. Well, they can all breathe a sigh of relief now, because I am here to help. - March 26, 2019

• More Reasons to Question the Holy See’s Accord with China
Despite the brutal reality of life on the ground in China, Rome’s serenity remains undisturbed. - March 26, 2019

• Dorian Gray and the Picture of Theodore McCarrick 
Suppose a man was presented the opportunity to live a double life filled with both esteem and vice, dignity and debauchery. Would the man jump at the chance? Glaucon, in Plato’s Book II of the Republic, argues that if a just man held possession of an invisible ring, he would undoubtedly live only for self-seeking pleasure and power. On the other hand, JRR Tolkien, in The Hobbit, commends the innocent Bilbo Baggins for using an invisible ring only for heroic reasons. - March 26, 2019

• Cardinals violating their vows: a ho-hum story?
America magazine is running a story about the conclave of 2013. The story—excerpted from the forthcoming The Election of Pope Francis, by Gerard O’Connell—includes a precise account of the voting on the cardinals’ first ballot. - March 25, 2019 

• Cardinals violating their vows: a ho-hum story?
America magazine is running a story about the conclave of 2013. The story— excerpted from the forthcoming The Election of Pope Francis, by Gerard O’Connell— includes a precise account of the voting on the cardinals’ first ballot. - March 25, 2019

• Bishop Schneider’s Analysis on Heretical Popes May Be Just the Answer We’re Looking For
When I was about 16 years old, I remember lying in my bed and hearing the muffled conversation of my parents in the next room. All of my five younger siblings were asleep, and whatever it was that my parents were talking about, whatever stresses were upon them in that moment, I felt this overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude that it wasn’t my problem to solve. I was so glad that for at least a little while longer, I got to be a child, and to have only the concerns of a child. I didn’t need to be a father with all the burdens that come with that role upon my shoulders. - March 25, 2019

• The Danger of Conflating Sexual Abuse With Abuse of Power
COMMENTARY: The February summit of bishops at the Vatican signaled a turning point in how the Church is framing sexual abuse. - March 23, 2019

• A Victim of Catholic Clergy Sexual Assault Speaks Out
COMMENTARY: Let us unite in bringing the darkness to light and healing to all. Catholic bishops from around the world commenced a meeting last month in Rome to address the issue of clergy sexual abuse of minors. In the days leading up to the conference, another layer in this crisis emerged and was acknowledged by Pope Francis: sexual abuse of nuns in Africa by priests.- March 22, 2019

• Cardinal Danneels’ Death Brings a Quintessential Catholic Moment
When Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels died March 14 at the age of 85, it began a quintessentially Catholic moment that has its roots in the New Testament. - March 22, 2019

• US Bishops Offer New Hope That Real Change May Be Coming
EDITORIAL: News from Baltimore, and Boston, reflects that, after many failures, missteps and delays, true accountability is on the horizon. - March 22, 2019

• Questions on Two Abuse Cases - and a Good Development
The Archdiocese of Baltimore recently announced the finding of credible accusations of sexual abuse of adults committed by two bishops: Michael Bransfield, former bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, WV; and Gordon D. Bennett, retired bishop of Mandeville, Jamaica (and earlier, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore). - March 20, 2019

• A Brief Word on Universal Acceptance of a Pope
As I said in a comment earlier this morning, what we are trying to provide here with our articles on the status of the papacy is clarity in the midst of escalating confusion. Just as Amoris Laetitia muddied the waters on sin and marriage, the thesis that Benedict is still the pope muddies our understanding of Church authority, infallibility, and the papacy. - March 20, 2019

• Bishop Athanasius Schneider: On the Question of a Heretical Pope
Editor’s note:  Bishop Athanasius Schneider — who recently launched his own website to help instruct and encourage Catholics — has previously discussed his thoughts on questions regarding the legitimacy of Francis’s papacy in an interview with 1P5. Today, he offers the following in-depth analysis “on the question of a heretical pope.” We offer our gratitude to Rorate Caeli, where the essay first appeared, for allowing us to reprint it here. - March 20, 2019

• Pope Francis’ Appointments: A Key Measure of His Pontificate
COMMENTARY: The Holy Father’s choices have been much less impactful than the diverse range of Church luminaries St. John Paul II appointed early in his own papacy. - March 20, 2019

• For Each Objection, an Answer: Why Francis Is Pope
To briefly recap what was shown in Part I, the peaceful and universal acceptance of a pope, following his election, is an infallible sign of his legitimacy and of the presence of all the conditions required for legitimacy. Practically speaking, when the cardinals elect a pope and present him to the Church as having been elected, if the election is not at once contested, or if the man elected is not at once rejected, it provides infallible certitude that he is the true pope, as well as an equal degree of certitude that every condition required for him to have become pope (such as the condition that the papal office was vacant at the time), was satisfied. - March 19, 2019

• Sodom: The Official Guide
Although there’s nothing in it about Roman weather or the various sites you might like to visit on a trip to the Vatican, French journalist Frédéric Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy is a curious sort of Baedeker to the ins and outs of the Vatican City State. To read it is a little like stepping through the door of Professor Lewis’s wardrobe, except it’s not Narnia you enter but Sodom. - March 18, 2019

• Dogmatic Fact: The One Doctrine that Proves Francis Is Pope
Near the end of the 19^th century, the High Church Anglican and virulent anti-Catholic scholar, Rev. Dr. Richard Littledale, dean of Windsor, published a book titled, The Petrine Claims. The book examined the history of the papacy in light of canon law, papal bulls, and accepted axioms of Catholic theology and concluded that more than 100 popes, recognized as legitimate popes by the Church, were in fact false popes. - March 18, 2019

• Pope Francis Denies the Church’s Sanctity: “Surprised in Flagrant Adultery”
On March 7, 2019, Pope Francis caused new scandal with the statement that the Church was “surprised in flagrant adultery!”¹ Regrettably, this is not the first time that Francis scandalizes Catholics (and many non-Catholics) with shocking statements and attitudes opposed to the Gospels, Church Tradition, and the common sentiment of the faithful. - March 18, 2019

• What Did Frederic Martel Hope to Accomplish With ‘Closet of the Vatican’?
COMMENTARY: The ‘bombshell’ book has been almost universally panned by Catholic commentators.The reception of Frederic Martel’s widely anticipated book In the Closet of the Vatican has been surprising. The tantalizing hints dropped before the “bombshell,” “salacious” book’s release exclaimed, “80% of Vatican priests gay.” - March 18, 2019

• Suffering Accompanies a Foolish Church
If nothing else, the pontificate of Pope John XXIII was optimistic in mindset. When asked why he called the Second Vatican Council, John allegedly replied, “I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.” At his opening address for the Council, he then derided critics who claimed that a moral crisis was brewing, calling them “prophets of doom, who are always forecasting worse disasters, as though the end of the world were at hand.” Pope John XXIII’s optimism was embedded in Vatican II’s mission: to successfully bring the Church to the modern world — that is, to open those Church windows and let the holy incense mingle with the fresh secular air, a profound marriage of optimism and fecundity. - March 15, 2019

• Pope Francis shows no regret over a shocking appointment
Was Pope Francis sending a subtle message to his critics this week? Or have I become a bit paranoid about papal statements? You decide. - March 15, 2019

• Tongue-tied bishops-is it fear of retribution?
John Allen of Crux does his best to be balanced, but he can only do so much. When he suggests that “Vigano may have made it harder to get to the truth on McCarrick“, he can’t avoid implying that many American bishops are keeping their silence, rather than demanding a thorough investigation and public explanation of the McCarrick affair, because they fear being labeled as critics of Pope Francis. - March 12, 2019

• Portraits of Clericalism
Many people have claimed that “clericalism” was in large part responsible for the Church’s sexual scandals. Perhaps. But it’s not clear that all the people who make this claim mean the same thing.  For some, “clericalism” is whenever a priest tells you what the Church teaches on an unpopular moral issue – say, for example, when a priest says, “If you’re using contraceptives, that’s not right.” Or, “You should go to confession more often.” - March 11, 2019

• Bishop Schneider Obtains Entirely Unhelpful Peronist Response From Francis on “Diversity of Religions”
I don’t know about all of you, but I am so unbelievably sick and tired of being treated as though we’re all a bunch of complete idiots. And when I see good bishops and priests playing games of mental Twister to try to reconcile deeply unorthodox statements from the pope just because he’s the pope, it doesn’t help anything. - March 8,2019

• An Encyclical on Homosexuality?
Apart from the grace of God, our most urgent need at the moment is a papal encyclical on homosexuality. - March 8, 2019 
 
• When the Pope Shrugs His Shoulders at Witchcraft
What kind of people must we be, if God is permitting this man to destroy the Catholicity of the Church, to the degree to which it is possible to destroy the Church? The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church, but that doesn’t mean that the enemy cannot inflict overwhelming damage in his rage against us. - March 6, 2019

• A statement the Tennessee bishops shouldn't have made 
The Catholic bishops of Tennessee have recommended against support for a “Heartbeat Bill,” on prudential grounds. The bishops may be right in their political judgment. But even if they are, they had no business issuing their statement. - March 6, 2019