The global Synod on Synodality has been two years in the making, but even as the synod’s universal stage in Rome is underway, the synod’s public discussions are revealing how this process is starting to free the church to realize the vision of a missionary church Pope Francis advanced at the very beginning of his pontificate with the publication of “Evangelii Gaudium.”
Generosity and compassion for those fleeing persecution prevailed over racial laws and centuries-old anti-Semitic prejudices in Nazi-occupied Italy, some Jewish and Catholic historians said at an international conference.
When Father Charles Trullols was growing up in Spain, solemn Eucharistic processions on the streets were a regular part of the Catholic way of worship. The director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington for the past six years wants to start his own annual tradition for the CIC.
Surgical, chemical or other interventions that aim “to exchange” a person’s “sex characteristics” for those of the opposite sex “are not morally justified,” said the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee in a statement released March 20.
Some adjustments to prayers are subtle, leaving some Catholics asking, “why?” The answer is rooted in history, starting with the founding of the Church, when its ancient texts were written in Latin.
Nearly 2,000 years since the crucifixion of Jesus, concerns persist that some malicious people who hear the story of the Passion of the Christ during Lent might justify antisemitism, in thought or deeds.
Responding to 11 questions it said had been raised about Pope Francis’ document restricting celebrations of the pre-Vatican II Mass, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments offered a few concessions to bishops but insisted the entire Latin-rite Catholic Church must move toward celebrating only one form of the Mass and sacraments.
