This summer Pope Leo will face two serious challenges to his authority: one from the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which has announced plans to consecrate new bishops without a papal mandate; the other from the German bishops’ conference, which is introducing a ritual for the blessing of...

Many faithful Catholics were surprised and dismayed to learn that Pope Leo had met with Father James Martin, SJ, in a private audience last week. I share their dismay. But not their surprise. We all knew, from the moment he was elected, that Pope Leo XIV would not repudiate the policies of his...

Throughout the Western world, Catholic Mass attendance has declined dramatically since Vatican II. That is an established fact. But did the Council—or its aftermath—cause the decline, or was the decline part of an overall cultural trend that the Council could not reverse? That question...

Is there are a double standard for judging the behavior of Catholic bishops? Can liberal bishops push their own controversial ideas without fear of public rebuke, while their more conservative colleagues are shunned as “uncollegial” if they break with the general consensus? For an...

So now we see the price that the Catholic Church must pay for the years of confusion over matters of doctrine during the reign of Pope Francis. When the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) publishes a statement, designed to clarify the proper language to use in praise of the Virgin Mary,...

President Trump has now made and repeated a blatant falsehood: that Pope Leo “thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” In a May 5 appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show, Trump said: “The Pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to...

Imagine that you are a young bachelor, having lunch with an old friend who has just married. Wreathed in smiles, radiating joy, he asks you: “Isn’t my wife the most beautiful woman in the world? Isn’t she just perfect?” She is a very attractive woman; that much is beyond...

Pope Leo’s answer to a question about the Chicago archdiocesan award for Senator Durbin was certainly disappointing. It was also largely irrelevant. The key question—the question that American bishops are now asking—is whether Cardinal Cupich can justify bestowing an honor on a...

When three American cardinals issued a statement on American foreign policy earlier this week, their comments naturally commanded public attention. Because the prelates stated at the outset that “events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of...

For 30 years or more, in nearly everything I have written, I have sought to drive home a few key themes: The Catholic Church is in the midst of a serious crisis; That crisis is not merely a matter of sexual abuse, or declining Mass attendance, or doctrinal dissent, or financial collapse,...