The church and public morality, from Leo XIII to Francis

Keeping the theological arguments of the encyclical in play will be a difficult task.

It is disturbing to learn that many of the objects we take for granted as part of our daily lives—clothes, chocolate, coffee–are frequently made under conditions that aren’t simply unjust, but that can only be described as slavery.  Once thought to be a moral issue dealt with

It is disturbing to learn that many of the objects we take for granted as part of our daily lives mdash clothes chocolate coffee ndash are frequently made under conditions that aren rsquo t simply unjust but that can only be described as slavery Once thought to be a moral issue dealt with in the

Oh loving God who out of love chose to save us to be with us to be born meek and lowly We celebrate your great gift of love by giving gifts to those we love As we give these gifts help us remember the people behind them the miners and harvesters who work in difficult and dangerous conditions th

Like so many I continue to digest Pope Francis rsquo interview Never in my life have I heard from so many people who shared they were moved to tears nbsp Never in my life have I heard so many saying their faith has been ldquo restored rdquo My instinct is to write ldquo rekindled rdquo but

Francis has brought together spiritual questions with a structural analysis of the global economy.

Twelve years tick off changes in media as much as they replay the same horrible narrative of terror nbsp In 2001 we watched news camera clips on endless replay nbsp Today scenes from Boston are broadcast continuously but from the myriad angles of bystander smartphone uploads nbsp A decade f

Vatican Insider at La Stampa has some of the most substantial coverage of Cardinal Bergoglio 39 s more provocative speeches in the past few years nbsp It also has a very frank interview with him from the most recent consistory nbsp All are worth reading nbsp I excerpt some highlights below U

As Benedict XVI’s pontificate comes to an end, we should pause to reflect on what this punctuation means for the Church. What era are we living in? Our answer to this question is important because it frames our approach to the opportunities, challenges and indeed crises we face as a Church. Can we still describe ours as the Post-Vatican II era 47 years since its close? 35 years, nearly three quarters of that time, the Church has been under the formative pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Surely the state of the contemporary Church is as much a result of their vision, plans, and actions as the Council.