The conversation this week that most Catholic writers and intellectuals are having concerns the article that we mentioned last week by Fathers Antonio Spadaro and Rev. Marcelo Figueroa in La Civilta Cattolica. There have been so many commentaries about this article, some thoughtful and good, and others seeming to have no value except to agitate those who read it.
Editorials
Misfired Volley
Father Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit priest, editor of the Italian journal, La Civilta Cattolica, and a close advisor to Pope Francis, and the Argentinian Presbyterian minister, Marcelo Figueroa, who is the editor of the Argentinian edition of L’Osservatore Romano, released an article that attempts to trace the roots of American conservatism and Evangelical Protestantism. The article goes further by stating a “Manichean” strain in American conservatism, as exemplified by President Donald Trump, has encouraged a strong political alliance between Catholics and American Evangelicals on issues of family values and pro-life.
Substance Matters
This past week, at the urging of Pope Francis, the Vatican’s Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, issued an important circular letter about the matter, the bread and wine, used for the Eucharist. This is important and essential information for all churches and chapels in all Roman Catholic dioceses in the world.
Catholic and American
The solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, is a curious one. In many countries, it is a holy day of obligation. It is not one in the United States. In the Vatican, it is the day when the Holy Father presents the pallium, the symbol of service and authority, to metropolitan archbishops.
Another School Year
As we conclude another academic year in our Catholic schools and academies, we should stop and thank God for the blessings that He has truly bestowed on us as a Diocese in Brooklyn and Queens.
Catherine’s Example
What a valuable saint Catherine of Siena is for our times. In an age of constant criticism of our priests, bishops, and the Holy Father, let us learn from her some lessons.
Eye on Albany
Once again, the fight to assure the future of Catholic schools goes on in our state of New York. The question of aid for mandated services, which many of our young people need to be successful in school (and, later on, in life), is in grave danger of being slashed severely.
Trump and Francis
President Donald J. Trump’s audience at the Vatican with Pope Francis was the first meeting between the two men. Speculation was wild about what would occur at this meeting? Contrary to some reports, it was not tense. It was simply another visit of a head of state to the Vatican.
Priority of Silence
This past week, Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI who had pledged to “remain hidden” from the world since his resignation from the papacy in 2013 released an afterword for a future edition of a new book by Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican entitled “The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise.” Benedict writes: “We should be grateful to Pope Francis for appointing such a spiritual teacher as head of the congregation that is responsible for the celebration of the liturgy in the Church,” and states further, “With Cardinal Sarah, a master of silence and of interior prayer, the liturgy is in good hands.”
Freedom Restored
President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on religious freedom, which has been met with enthusiasm in some circles and skepticism in others. Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, described it as “lacking in the kind of teeth that we expected.” The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl J. Anderson, commented: “We applaud President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty. While there is still work to be done to restore the reverence for religious freedom enshrined in the first amendment, this order marks an important step in restoring those constitutional principles guaranteed to every American.”