Since the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Francis, the Church has been engaged in a kind of focused conversation about mercy. In 2014, we began preparations for the Extraordinary and Ordinary Synods on the Family - discussions in Rome…
How does the centre of institutional authority—in the Catholic Church, the papacy and the Vatican—allow dialogue within a global, decentralised, talk-back culture? The answer is: with great difficulty. Pope Francis’ open and friendly communication style has stirred interest globally, especially…
On Friday, 4 March 2016, sixteen people were murdered in a terrorist attack at a nursing home in Aden, the main city on the coast of southern Yemen. The dead comprised four nuns, who served in the Missionaries of Charity,…
“Miserando atque Elegendo”: this is Pope Francis’ papal motto. It is taken from Matthew’s Gospel and recalls Matthew’s vocation. Matthew was a despised tax collector and yet Jesus saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, saying to…
The past several weeks reminded us that the world is a very scary place. The bloodshed caused by ISIS in Paris and the continuing real threat of terrorism in Belgium, Italy and yes, even in the US, should remind us,…
In his masterpiece The Lord, Guardini has a revealing chapter on “Justice and That Which Surpasses It.” It’s worth reading as a clue to the Holy Father’s thought when he announced a Jubilee Year of Mercy. To quote Guardini at…
Advent is the liturgical season of vigilance or, to put it more mundanely, of waiting. During the four weeks prior to Christmas, we light the candles of our Advent wreaths and put ourselves in the spiritual space of the Israelite…
The primacy of conscience has become a matter of discussion at the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. At issue is what believers should do when the conscience seems to suggest a deviance from Catholic doctrine, and how pastors,…