Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) and Pope Francis (1936-present): the guardians, interpreters, defenders and promoters of the Catholic faith in our time... Are there limits to the magisterial teaching of the "social Gospel"? The beginning of an assessment... “I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for [...]
Russian opera singer Svetlana Kasyan, her daughter Natalia, her husband, a Russian from Rostov-on-Don, Leonid Sevastianov, and Pope Francis, in the Domus Santa Marta, in November 2013 Letter #118, 2023, Friday, August 4: Breaking We will be having a live conversation with Leonid Sevastianov in Moscow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time today. Sevastianov will discuss the [...]
Metropolitan Hilarion in a photo from 2018. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) "Metropolitan Hilarion was given great visibility at the Conference by his presentation to all of the bishops and the discussion that followed. This exposure was not a role played by a person assigned to obscurity. In my opinion, this very important role indicates that the [...]
The First Things article by Matthew Schmitz (below), which has just been circulated on the internet, gives credit to Pope Francis for being a proponent of reason and negotiation in the present Ukraine-Russia war. Some people will be opposed to this aspect of Francis's thinking. However, this is a carefully prepared article which makes a [...]
In an effort to favor the creation of a community of readers of these letters, I will be publishing, from time to time, the letters readers send to me. (Possibly on each Thursday of the week.) I publish them, and will include them on our web site, in part in order to add to the [...]
Immacolata Solaro Del Borgo, now age 93, in a photo from six years ago. She is an Italian noblewoman who has in her family archives precious relics of saints, including of St. John Chrysostom and St. John the Evangelist. She has spent her life trying to build trust between the East and the West, by [...]
Photo Credit Immacolata Solaro Del Borgo, now age 93, in a photo from six years ago. She is an Italian noblewoman who has in her family archives precious relics of saints, including of St. John Chrysostom and St. John the Evangelist. She has spent her life trying to build trust between the East [...]
Letter #112, 2023, Monday, July 17: Corporal Works of Mercy To become a prisoner is to lose one's freedom. In Catholic teaching, we hold that there are seven works of "corporal mercy" which all of us, in so far as it is possible for us, should practice. One of those works is "to visit the [...]
Pope Francis, 86, with fellow Argentine Archbishop Victor Fernández, 60, 26 years younger, together at the Vatican on June 30, two weeks ago, just before Francis announced on July 1 that he had chosen Fernandez to head the Church's top doctrinal office, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (the office Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [...]
The Twitter account of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 82, the former papal nuncio to the United States, has just been blocked. See the report of this news here. The apparent spark for this suspension decision is a powerful text (link)Viganò has just published warning of what he sees as the very grave danger to the [...]
