Essay
Three questions to answer on Ash Wednesday
Since all human sin has its origins in that “original” sin of our first parents, let’s go back to that very beginning. […]
Gaudium et Spes
Essay
“Thy Kingdom Come!”: Christ the King reigns in consciences
That Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom (Mt 6:9–13; Lk 11:2–4) long before they could fully understand its true nature has long intrigued me. Clearly, Jesus intends to lead […]
![Detail from 'Crucifixion' (c.1315) by Giotto di Bondone [WikiArt.org]](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files.catholicworldreport.com/2018/04/4668crucifixion_00000004277-326x245.jpg)
The Dispatch
Good Friday, Death, and Christian Life
Mary weeps at the foot of the cross, and we weep with her. But we also must not stop there. For beyond the cross of […]
Features
How do we read “the signs of the times”?
In the run-up to this fall’s “Synod on Synodality,” I’ve written several essays in this journal relevant to it. I’ve addressed the demand to “welcome” and what welcome has hitherto meant in the Church. I’ve […]
The Dispatch
Memo to Gen Z Catholics: Why Vatican II is still important
Mr. Adam Lucas, who is “newly married with a baby on the way” (mazel tov!) and “has a Master’s in Theology,” speaks for a depressing number of Gen Z Catholics when he writes on the […]
Analysis
The Good, the Bad, and Gaudium et Spes
It is easy to be critical of Gaudium et Spes as a document pushed through at the end of the Second Vatican Council when the Holy Spirit was out to lunch or the Conciliar fathers […]
The Dispatch
No “just wars”?
Every war is a defeat for humanity, because men and women endowed with reason should be able to resolve their differences without mass violence. Reason, however, can be corrupted by ignorance, passion, ideology, pride, and […]
The Dispatch
Opinion: Vatican II, dialogue with the world, and natural law
Pope Francis’ recent apostolic letter on the use of the traditional Latin Mass, Traditionis Custodis, presumably written in the spirit of unity, has produced a firestorm of reactions—some positive, some negative, others seeking a middle […]
The Dispatch
Vatican II on Catholics in public life
The Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (often referenced by its Latin title, Gaudium et Spes) is typically regarded as the most “progressive” of the 16 documents of Vatican […]
The Dispatch
A Saintly View of Vatican II: On St. John Paul II and the Council
Editor’s note: This essay, which originally appeared at CWR on May 31, 2020, is reposted in honor of St. John Paul II’s feast day. “By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that […]