Dr. Larry Chapp is a retired professor of theology. He taught for twenty years at DeSales University near Allentown, Pennsylvania. He now owns and manages, with his wife, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania. Dr. Chapp received his doctorate from Fordham University in 1994 with a specialization in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar The issues involved in the current synod are foundational in nature, just as in St. Augustine’s time, and involve theologically incommensurate understandings of Christology, anthropology, ecclesiology, and soteriology. The senior writer at Commonweal magazine, Paul Baumann, has penned a thoughtful essay, titled “Pope Francis & …
Category: Apologetics
Archbishop of San Francisco: resolution of St. Junipero Serra statue desecration case is ‘direct opposite’ of restorative justice
The Archbishop of San Francisco responded to the resolution of the desecration case of a statue of St. Junipero Serra, where the vandals were charged with a misdemeanor. In an article published in Marin Voice, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone explained that the perpetrators were charged with a misdemeanor because, according to the District Attorney, the perpetrators participated in restorative justice. “Restorative justice seeks to bring about reconciliation between offender and victim after a criminal conviction,” said the Archbishop. “It holds out the potential for much healing when conducted honestly and faithfully, but can bring even greater hurt to victims when not.” After …
Cardinal Burke: Reverence for the Eucharist Will Transform Us
‘He’s given us his own Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity to nourish his life within us. What a difference that has to make in our daily life.’ Johnnette Benkovic Williams InterviewsAugust 31, 2024 Editor’s Note: Cardinal Raymond Burke joined Johnnette Benkovic Williams on EWTN’s Women of Grace, discussing several topics. In the excerpt below, the cardinal discusses his deep understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and how Catholics must be worthy to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord. We are visiting with His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke. He’s given us a wonderful book. …
‘Denmark Is on Fire’ for Marian-Inspired Brown Scapular Devotion
Bénédicte Cedergren is an Associate Producer for EWTN News Nightly. She is Swedish-French and grew up in Stockholm. After graduating from the University of Stockholm with a degree in Journalism, Bénédicte moved to Rome where she earned a degree in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. She also sings sacred music and works as a photographer. Passionate about spreading the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith, Bénédicte enjoys sharing the testimonies of others and writing stories that captivate and inspire. Upon hearing the Blessed Mother’s call during a retreat, Father Daniel Steiner Ebert has since enrolled …
Conservative prelate warns that excommunicating Viganò will lead to further division
“I think the pope would be wise and prudent if he were to not excommunicate Archbishop Viganò,” Schneider told Religion News Service in an interview on Monday (June 24), adding that, “with this act, the Holy See will increase divisions even more.” The Vatican Department for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Vatican’s Inquisition, summoned Viganò to trial on June 28 under charges of schism, which can incur the penalty of excommunication. Viganò wrote in a public statement that he had no intention of attending the “fake trial” and doubled down on his criticism of the pope …
The Mystery of the Church’s Catholicity
Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. holds a Ph.D. in Theology and is Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland. A former doctoral student under Joseph Ratzinger, Twomey is the author of several books, including The End of Irish Catholicism?, Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait), and Moral Theology after Humanae Vitae. His most recent books are The Dynamics of Liturgy—Joseph Ratzinger’s Theology of Liturgy: An Interpretation (Ignatius Press, 2022) and Apostolikos Thronos, Rival Accounts of Roman Primacy in Eusebius and Athanasius (Emmaus Academic, 2023, revised edition). In 2011, Benedict XVI awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal …
To Judge or Not to Judge?
Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow of Human Life International. He is a professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut, and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest works, How to Remain Sane in a World That is Going Mad; Poetry that Enters the Mind and Warms the Heart; and How to Flourish in a Fallen World are available through Amazon.com. Some of his recent writings may be found at Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum. He is the 2015 Catholic Civil Rights League recipient of the prestigious …
Ticket to Oblivion?
George Weigel is the distinguished senior fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. COMMENTARY: ‘Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another..’ In the days before Pope Paul VI simplified the rituals surrounding the creation of new cardinals, men who had previously been informed that they had been chosen gathered in Rome; there, a day or so before the consistory at which they would be “proclaimed” and given the red hat, they received what …
Pope’s Anti-TLM Theologian Shows His Pro-Contraception Cards
Pope Francis is fond of saying “Everything is connected.” Traditionalists have been saying the same thing for the past six decades. We have long emphasized that those who transformed the Catholic liturgy on paper and in practice were also entertaining doctrinal novelties, oddities, and, at times, even heresies. Conversely, a radically changed liturgy has led to the weakening and occasioned the loss of faith in, any number of central doctrines of Catholicism, or that the loss of reverence for God is bound up with moral drift in every sphere of life. It is not hard, after all, to see that the lex orandi, the lex credendi, and …
Will There Be African Resistance to the October 2024 Synod?
In an interview with KTO, a French Catholic news channel, on March 17, 2024, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), discussed the Fiducia supplicans Declaration that authorized the blessing of same-sex couples. He regretted the method used by the Vatican to publish Fiducia supplicans: without prior consultation and with a particular timetable. “I do not believe that this text was necessary at that time,” he said, recalling that the first session of the Synod on Synodality had just ended in Rome and that a second session …