How does Pope Francis understand what he’s doing? We could argue that these past 10 years have been a journey of reception and implementation of Vatican II.

“Top-down” ecumenism has not reduced the distance between the Catholic church and other churches. We need grassroots ecumenical relationships now.

Pope Francis is calling us to appreciate the vital interplay between the pastoral and doctrinal aspects of church teaching when it comes to sexual sin and the reception of the Eucharist.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference in Germany wants to create a Synodal Council out of both clerics and lay people, but the Vatican has declared its rejection of this plan.

“The [Second Vatican] Council was a visit of God to his church. It was one of those things that God produces in history through holy people,” Pope Francis said in an interview published in Belgium on Feb. 28.

The changing demographics of the Catholic Church in the United States raises the question: How well do Cardinal Robert McElroy’s views reflect the various perspectives present in the growing Latino community?