The Moynihan Letters

    A session of the Synod on Synodality (link) now meeting in Rome from October 4 to October 29. This is the 16th bishops' synod since the Bishops' Synod was established as a new office in the Vatican by Pope Paul VI in 1965 (link)     The gathering of more than 350 delegates from around the world, [...]

    The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, where St. Francis (1181-1226) is buried. The bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, on October 4 — the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi — sent a letter to the participants of the Synod on Synodality, which began its proceedings on October 4...     Letter #139, 2023, Thursday, October 5: [...]

    Leonid Sevastianov, a Russian Orthodox layman who is also the leader of the "Old Believer" community in Russia, is shown here with his daughter, Natalia, and wife, Svetlana Kasyan, meeting with Pope Francis in the Domus Santa Marta in Rome... Sevastianov will join us in a live podcast at noon tomorrow, Eastern Standard Time in [...]

The Synod on Synodality (Vatican Media)     Participants at the Synod on Synodality during the first session on October 4 look at texts from the Church Fathers dealing with the action of the Holy Spirit; the texts were recommended to them by Pope Francis     Letter #137, 2023, Thursday, October 5: Pope Francis's October 4 [...]

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 91, retired bishop of Hong Kong | File photo | CNS photo|Gregory A. Shemitz     Letter #136, 2023, Thursday, October 5: Cardinal Joseph Zen, in a letter, calls for Synod bishops to petition against what he terms a "plan of manipulation"     Yesterday, The Pillar news agency published an important letter [...]

    Pope Francis and the five senior cardinals -- Zen, Brandmueller, Sarah, Burke and Sandoval Íñiguez -- who have asked him five "questions" on the eve of the synod on synodality, which begins in Rome tomorrow, October 4     "Dear brothers, I believe these answers will be able to satisfy your questions. Do not forget to pray [...]

    Letter #134, 2023, Monday, October 2: A new set of five “dubia” sent to the Pope     Five cardinals ask for clarity on Synod-related issues     Doubts, or dubia in Latin, have been expressed in no small measure, all over the globe, since Pope Francis surprised the Catholic world by announcing on May 21, 2021, that he [...]

    Dominican Friar and former Master of the Order of Preachers, Father Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, 78 (link). He is leading a spiritual retreat for the participants in the upcoming Synod on Synodality occurring in these days in a religious house outside of Rome. The synod will begin on October 4     "Some hope that the Church [...]

    "In this speech I will not try to give answers, but to pose a question that can no longer be postponed..." —Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, in an address scheduled to be delivered by video link to a Catholic conference meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania yesterday, October 1. However, on his website, Archbishop Viganò writes (link): "This [...]

    The Raising of Lazarus by the Italian painter Duccio, c. 1310-1311. Lazarus was the saint who died, and was buried for four days, before Jesus came to his tomb and spoke those words which have echoed down the centuries: "Lazarus, come forth!" This was the last great miracle Jesus performed, just eight days before he [...]