George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington, D.C.’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies. In 2007, the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean completed their fifth general conference with a final report, known from the Brazilian city where they met as the “Aparecida Document.” Its principal authors included Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., then the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Thanks to the efforts of the future pope and others, the Aparecida Document remains an exemplary description of what it means to be the Church of the New Evangelization—and not …
George Weigel: Cardinal Cupich’s Criticisms of Archbishop Gomez are Baseless
Weigel argued that Archbishop Gomez releasing a statement on the inauguration was in keeping with the recommendations from the Working Group on Engaging the New Administration created by the bishops at their November 2020 meeting. CNANationJanuary 23, 2021 WASHINGTON — Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, showed courage in releasing a statement on the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration despite opposition from within the conference, said papal biographer and longtime Church observer George Weigel. Weigel said Archbishop Gomez displayed “episcopal courage” at a time when others demanded “a reprise of the accommodationist approach to Catholic public …
George Orwell, Call Your Office!
By Regis Martin Regis Martin is Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned a licentiate and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Martin is the author of a number of books, including Still Point: Loss, Longing, and Our Search for God (2012) and The Beggar’s Banquet (Emmaus Road). His most recent book, also published by Emmaus Road, is called Witness to Wonder: The World of Catholic Sacrament. He resides in Steubenville, Ohio, with his wife and ten children. Unless you had the …
Joe Biden Eats and Drinks His Own Spiritual Death
By Austin Ruse Austin Ruse is a contributing editor to Crisis Magazine. His next book, Under Siege: No Finer Time to be a Faithful Catholic, is out from Sophia Institute Press on March 19. You can follow him on Twitter @austinruse. Yesterday morning at the grand Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington D.C., Joe Biden ate and drank his own spiritual death. That he received the Holy Eucharist from the hands of a Cardinal of the Church adds scandal upon scandal. One radio wag called it a mass for Planned Parenthood. And so, it was. Joe Biden is an enemy of the Catholic faith. …
Biden, the Bishops, and the New Face of Catholicism
By Monica Migliorino Miller Monica Migliorino Miller is the Director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society. She holds a degree in Theatre Arts from Southern Illinois University and graduates with degrees in Theology from Loyola University and Marquette University. She is the author of several books including The Theology of the Passion of the Christ (Alba House) and, most recently, The Authority of Women in the Catholic Church (Emmaus Road) and Abandoned: The Untold Story of the Abortion Wars (St. Benedict Press). The Catholic Church in America has been thrust into a new and unprecedented crisis—namely the election of Joseph Biden to the presidency. If not dealt with …
Cupich/Gómez Spat Reveals Divide in USCCB
By Declan Leary Mr. Leary is the Collegiate Network Fellow at The American Conservative and a graduate of John Carroll University. Cardinal Cupich was not happy on Wednesday. He probably should have been; after all, the end of the Trump presidency was supposed to be a joyous day for denizens of the Left like Cupich. But the celebration was spoiled for the most vocal of the USCCB’s left-wing bishops because of a statement issued by USCCB President Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles. Cupich went into a tirade on Twitter, calling it “an ill-considered statement on the day of President Biden’s inauguration.” According to Cardinal Cupich, it was issued without …
Report: Biden set to promptly reverse pro-life policies
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 19, 2021 / 11:00 am (CNA).- President-elect Joe Biden is expected to promptly roll back pro-life policies the Trump administration put in place, NBC News reported on Monday. Biden, who will become the second Roman Catholic president when he is sworn into office on Jan. 20, is believed to be seeking to repeal the Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule and the expanded Mexico City Policy. The Protect Life Rule prevents organizations which perform or refer for abortions from receiving Title X family planning funds. It effectively stripped Planned Parenthood of approximately $60 million annually in federal funding. The Mexico …
Catholic leaders respond to Biden’s call for unity
Washington D.C., Jan 20, 2021 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Catholic leaders responded to new President Joe Biden’s call for national unity in his inaugural address on Wednesday. Biden, the second Catholic to become president of the United States, said on Wednesday that “to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words,” and added that “it requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity. Unity.” Biden also quoted St. Augustine to underline the need for unity in truth. “Many centuries ago, St. Augustine, a saint in my Church, wrote that a …
President Biden and a Catholic inflection point
George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies. He is the author of over twenty books, including Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (1999), The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy (2010), and The Irony of Modern Catholic History: How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform. His most recent book is The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission (2020), published by Ignatius Press. For as many of you …
San Francisco archbishop responds to Pelosi: ‘No Catholic in good conscience can favor abortion’
In a Jan. 18 podcast with former senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that support of pro-life voters for former President Donald Trump was an issue that “gives me great grief as a Catholic.” San Francisco, Calif., Jan 21, 2021 / 01:20 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of San Francisco on Thursday responded to the Speaker of the House accusing pro-life Trump voters of being sellouts. In a Jan. 18 podcast with former senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that support of pro-life voters for former President Donald Trump was an …