There can no longer be any doubt that the momentum for reform is building rapidly in the Catholic Church. This has been most starkly demonstrated by the public response to the style and priorities of the new papacy Perhaps the most…
Church Reform
A New Pope, A New Curia – A New Church?
During the conclave and the preceding Congress of Cardinals, as it was becoming clear that there was a widespread desire for extensive reform of the curia, I came across one observation that intrigued me. This noted the tradition that the…
A Different Kind of Pope
The more I see, the more I like. Before the conclave, it was clear that there was a powerful desire within the Catholic Church for a fresh start, a new beginning. Some of what I am learning, suggests that in…
Opinion Polls Confirm – Strong Support for Church Reform
In the build – up to the conclave, four major polling companies have taken soundings of the responses of American Catholics to the challenges facing the new pontiff, and to some matters of orthodox Catholic doctrine. These surveys were: New York…
Gay Men in This Conclave: Could Women Be in the Next?
In the build – up to the conclave that will elect a new pope, an Italian priest has called for the election of an openly gay one. That may be unrealistic this time – but Andrew Sullivan has pointed out…
Soho Masses, and the “Denial of Inconvenient Truths”
At The Time on Saturday, the eminent church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has an excellent article on the present crisis in the Catholic Church, which he argues requires that we need more than a new pope – “If the walls are…
The Catholic Spring: Ferment in Switzerland
One of the disadvantages of English as a home language, is that too often it leaves us linguistically challenged in other tongues, and as a result all too ignorant of developments in the wider world (outside, that is, the UK,…
A Catholic OBLIGATION to Discuss Women’s Ordination
We are all too familiar with the Vatican insistence that not only is women’s ordination impossible, but that even discussion of the subject is not permitted. Others disagree. In a hard-hitting editorial, the National Catholic Reporter argues strongly that not…
Church Reform: Adapting Hans Kung’s 2010 Letter to Bishops
In the British “Call to Action” Google group, Chris McDonnell posted a useful contribution under the heading “Direction and Purpose“, in which he referred to Hans Kung’s 2010 open letter to the bishops, and asked “Does this help us forward?”. This was…
Women’s Ordination in the Catholic Church: A Way forward?
The recent disappointment over the failure of the Church of England Synod finally to approve the ordination of woman bishops has brought the matter under a political spotlight, with suggestions that parliament should remove the exemption of the CoE from…
