The Catholic Church must take great care to avoid rites or blessings that suggest marriage is anything other than a sacramental bond between one man and one woman, the incoming prefect of the Vatican’s doctrinal office said.
Bishops
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Exclusive interview with Archbishop Frank Leo, Pope Francis’ ally in Toronto
In this exclusive interview, the new archbishop of Toronto, the Most Rev. Frank Leo, talks about his call to the priesthood, life as a Vatican diplomat and what he learned as secretary general of the Canadian Catholic bishops’ conference.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Podcast: What happens when bishops are under Vatican investigation
This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell tells host Colleen Dulle what he has heard from sources who have spoken to the pope in recent days.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis blesses palliums for 32 new archbishops, tells them to follow the example of Sts. Peter and Paul
In his homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, Pope Francis called on the 32 new archbishops present to follow the example of Sts. Peter and Paul, whose feast the church celebrates today.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Two U.S. bishops were recently subject to Vatican visitations. What do these interventions mean?
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tenn., and Bishop Joseph Strickland, of Tyler, Tex., have both been subject to apostolic visitations recently. Here’s what we do (and don’t) know about the Vatican interventions.
Posted inFaith, News
Bishop Stika of Knoxville resigns early amid Vatican investigation into abuse cover-up and financial mismanagement
Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, 65, has resigned from pastoral governance of the diocese, after he has faced media interest in alleged sexual abuse cover-up and financial mismanagement.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
Pope Francis is appointing more young bishops. Will they secure his legacy?
Since February, Pope Francis has appointed four men under age 60 to lead major archdioceses around the world, in what have widely been viewed as efforts to shore up his legacy.
Posted inExplainer, Politics & Society
The controversial history of the U.S. bishops’ Catholic health care guidelines
With rapid advances in medicine and sweeping changes in the U.S. health care landscape, some are suggesting that the U.S. bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services needs a complete overhaul.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Transgender treatment at Catholic hospitals: U.S. bishops vote to begin process that could formally ban it
While most Catholic hospitals already refrain from offering transgender surgeries and hormonal interventions, the vote means that the bishops will move to formalize such bans.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
20 years after Bishop O’Brien’s sex abuse cover-up and deadly hit-and-run, have Catholics in Phoenix healed?
All Catholics in Phoenix, on some level, felt the sting of the sexual abuse crisis. Dozens of priests and deacons were accused, leading many of us to question our faith. Have we come to terms with it?