Tag: Francis

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Veronica Arntz

Addressing Amoris Laetitia

Veronica Arntz

What about Amoris Laetitia? Up until this point in my article series, I have said very little about the new post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

Although the document begins with Psalm 128, which beautifully describes building a family like building a strong house, many have been confused and concerned about the document’s overall approach to the issue of Communion for the divorced and remarried.

It is good that Pope Francis reaffirms the importance of the indissoluble bond: “The indissolubility of marriage — ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’– should not be viewed as a ‘yoke’ imposed on humanity, but as a ‘gift’ granted to those who are joined in marriage” (AL, art. 62).

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Veronica Arntz

Answering the question: ‘What is marriage?’

Veronica Arntz

Marriage and family are clearly under attack in many forms in our secular society.

Thus, as Catholics, we must clearly understand the Church’s teaching on marriage and family.

Yet, even in the Church, there is disagreement surrounding marriage and family (including how to help the divorced and remarried), especially since the publication of Pope Francis’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Daniel Berrigan and nonviolence

Fr. Daniel Berrigan, SJ, passed away April 30 at the age of 94. Though many younger Catholics might not remember him, Father Berrigan was one of the most provocative and controversial religious figures of his time.

Standing in the tradition of principled non-violence proposed by Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and others, Berrigan led the charge against America’s involvement in the Vietnam conflict and its on-going participation in the Cold War and the nuclear arms race.

He was most famous, of course, for his leadership of the “Catonsville Nine,” a group of protestors who, in the spring of 1968, broke into a building and burned draft records with homemade napalm. To say that he was, during that tumultuous time in American history, a polarizing figure would be an understatement.

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Fr. Donald Lange

How do you spell love? M-o-t-h-e-r

In Isaiah 49:15 Isaiah asks “Can a mother forget her baby, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

This passage praises mothers as symbols of amazing compassion, never forgetting their beloved children. Pope Francis said that a mother is concerned “above all about the health of her children. She cares for them with great and tender love the way Mary, our spiritual, heavenly mother, cares for us.”

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Bishop Robert Barron

First thoughts on Amoris Laetitia

On a spring day about five years ago, when I was rector of Mundelein Seminary, Cardinal Francis George spoke to the assembled student body.

He congratulated those proudly orthodox seminarians for their devotion to the dogmatic and moral truths proposed by the Church, but he also offered some pointed pastoral advice.

He said that it is insufficient simply to drop the truth on people and then smugly walk away. Rather, he insisted, you must accompany those you have instructed, committing yourself to helping them integrate the truth that you have shared.

 

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Bishop Robert Barron

Pope Francis and true mercy

Having just returned from a week covering Pope Francis’ triumphant journey to the United States, I can confidently tell you that the news media are in love with the Vicar of Christ.

Time and again, commentators, pundits, anchorpersons, and editorialists opined that Pope Francis is the bomb.

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