Whatever pragmatic sense that might once have made, “The road from Rome to Constantinople runs through Moscow” is now theologically absurd, because the leadership of the Russian Church has abandoned Christian orthodoxy, as demonstrated by Kirill’s heretical and blasphemous statements over the past three-plus years.
The permanent exhibit in the rotunda of the National Archives in Washington includes original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Constitution’s first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights. However faded they have become over more than two centuries, these parchment documents continually evoke a sense of wonder.
In this raw, emotionally overwrought moment in our public life, few topics generate more passion than gender ideology and the associated practice of gender “transition.” Several Catholic leaders have tried to address the ideology and the practice calmly, informed by science, philosophy, theology, and pastoral experience. The most recent is Bishop Daniel Thomas of “Toledo in America,” as the Vatican’s Annuario Pontificio designates the Ohio diocese centered on the Glass City.
America needs the example of a real hero: I give you Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr.
War is raging in Ukraine, a beleaguered, brutalized country that looks to the United States for support in its struggle for survival — and Americans are obsessing over Cracker Barrel logos?
The experience of traveling to Rome for the Jubilee with the Diocese of Brooklyn to see Pope Leo XIV was unbelievable. The experience remains vivid in my mind, as I recall the distinctive energy of being in the Church’s central location.
Assuming that the synodal process is not an end in itself and recognizing that the synodal process of 2021-2024 has produced some good fruits, perhaps it may be suggested that it’s now time to move from synoding to applying the fruits of the past three years to mission and evangelization.
My dad, Vincent LeVien, works for the Diocese of Brooklyn. As a result, my family is often invited to attend special Church events. In April, we traveled to Italy for the canonization of then-Blessed Carlo Acutis, but it was canceled after Pope Francis died. So, instead of the canonization, we were there for the funeral of a pope, which is something I never thought I would get to witness.
Pope Leo XIV’s spiritual lodestar is St. Augustine. In his first months in office, the Holy Father summoned the Church to pray, fast, and work for an end to the 21st century’s wars. That spiritual orientation and that summons invite us to consider what “peace” is possible in this world.
Robert Royal and I have been friends, colleagues, and co-conspirators for nigh on four decades.
