The Dispatch
Canon 17 does not let us undercut Canon 915 and what it protects: A response to Stephen Walford
It is difficult to discuss law, of all things, with people who not know what it actually says. […]
Pope Francis
Features
From what, precisely, are Amoris Laetitia “dissenters” dissenting?
If even Pope Francis could be unsure about the orthodoxy of his controversial post-Synodal Exhortation, surely the faithful will be allowed to have perplexities of […]
Analysis
How and why the death penalty deters murder in contemporary America
Too many churchmen simply ignore the evidence that the death penalty saves lives and promotes public order. Catholic public officials charged with the care of the […]
Features
Cardinal Brandmüller reflects on Luther, “Amoris laetitia”, the Dubia, and current situation
An interview with the Church historian and theologian Walter Cardinal Brandmüller conducted by Armin Schwibach of kath.net. […]
Essay
On non-infallible teachings of the Magisterium and the meaning of “obsequium religiosum”
Sometimes “religious obsequium” is translated “religious assent,” at other times “religious submission,” and at other times “religious respect”. What exactly are we being asked to […]
The Dispatch
Pope Francis, “diaconal primacy”, and decentralization of the curia
Decentralization by no means guarantees better governance, but is much more theologically, historically, and practically defensible than the Roman centralization and personality cult of the […]
Features
Pope Francis exhorts Curia to avoid “unbalanced and debased mindset of plots and small cliques”
“The universal nature of the Curia’s service,” the Holy Father told Curia members in the annual pre-Christmas address, “… wells up and flows out from […]
The Dispatch
Comments on Prof. Robert De Mattei’s response about AL, canon law, and heresy
I am immensely glad that canon law is here, but the fact that we are lately having to rely on law almost exclusively to defend crucial Church teachings is a sign […]
Analysis
Pope Francis’ “open and incomplete” leadership and the puzzling “reform” of the Curia
Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, the Editor-in-Chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, says the Holy Father’s leadership “is based on the success-error dynamic,” which inevitably “destabilizes whoever […]
The Dispatch
It’s about the Art, for Art’s Sake
The Vatican’s 2017 Nativity Display is generating more than a little vitriol from some Catholics on social media. […]