A decade after my arrival in Rome as part of the first internationally recruited cohort of Russell Berrie Fellows in Interreligious Studies, the program was still going, stronger than ever, in fact. Despite the pandemic, last year’s cohort managed to make the best of their experience, and I just recently came across a blog they prepared. Prompted me to look up some of the old blog posts I had written about the Fellowship or about our Holy Land Seminar ..read more

The internationalization of the College of Cardinals is neither new nor unique to Pope Francis, despite the grumbling in some circles about his penchant for going to the peripheries to elevate men to the porporati. The College of Cardinals evolved out of the clergy of the local Church of Rome, as the Church of Rome and its bishop grew to take on more responsibilities beyond the level of a diocese or metropolitan province, in the early medieval period. There were cardinals from each of the major orders: The cardinal-deacons had been seven originally, actual deacons, one each as dean of the seve ..read more

Viganò must be taken with a large grain of salt – it becomes clear he is ideologically driven and fixated on homosexuality – which is not the core issue here, though it has its place. He also gets a few facts wrong, to support this ideology. For example, he claims 80% of abuse is of a homosexual nature. This is untrue. If you look at the most comprehensive study to date, and at the people doing the abuse the breakdown is this: 45% homosexual abuse of teens or vulnerable adults, 33% heterosexual abuse of teens or vulnerable adults, 22% pedophile abuse of children.{1} His tone develops from fact ..read more

August is normally a quiet month in Rome. A month ago today, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Theodore McCarrick, 88, from the college of cardinals. And that was merely the beginning. This was a first: No pope – none – has removed a cardinal for reasons related to the sex abuse scandal in recent memory, if ever. Compare Francis’ two immediate predecessors: When it became known in 2013 that Cardinal Keith O’Brien (Scotland) was found, like McCarrick, to have engaged throughout the 1980s-90s in the abuse of power, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault of adults under his authority, Pope ..read more

As my 40th birthday approaches, as for many people, it has become a time for reflection on what I have achieved and how I have lived my life so far. One thing that has been on my mind has been this: As someone who committed to a life of serving the Church at the age of 17, and never really having worked outside the Church in my entire adult life, I accepted early that I would never become wealthy, and that never really bothered me. I figured as long as I devoted myself to ministry, at least my basic needs would be taken care of, and my only real material vices are books – and travel, especiall ..read more

For years, I collected and collated the calendar for the celebrations during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity here in Rome. Thankfully, Churches Together in Rome has taken up the task this year! Here are the events we know of; probably, there are others. Please let me know and I can add them. WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY : 18 to 25 JANUARY 2018 Thursday 18th 16.30 An afternoon of prayer and reflection, with an address by Mgr. Paul Mc Partlan, on “Chieti and the Trajectory of Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue”, followed by an Ecumenical Celebration of the Word: Presider: Rev. Tony Currer ..read more

Some thoughts in response to the claim that, “…for months now we’ve heard how faithful Catholics, looking for clarification from the See of Peter, are schismatics, or an “rad-trads”, an insignificant minority of nobodies… a fringe that isn’t worth responding.” And, in general, to all related topics. To be clear, it is not the asking of questions that is labelled “radical traditionalist”, “schismatic”, or an “insignificant minority fringe”. Neither is it faithful Catholics… The only people being called schismatic are schismatic. Causing division in the church is schism. Promoting it ..read more

I received this email – as did many others – from a priest-colleague in Rome. I thought it was fascinating and am sharing here, but redacting some personal details for privacy. Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. source: WikimediaCommons 7 July 2017 I arrived here in Ulaan Baatar last evening to participate in the 25th anniversary celebration of the Church’s presence in Mongolia, and I invite you to join with us in prayer and thanksgiving on Sunday for all that God has accomplished here. With the collapse of communism in 1992, it was Pope St. John Paul II who recognize ..read more