On “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” Gloria speaks with Father Manuel Williams about Sister Thea Bowman and the importance of Black spirituality and liturgy in the U.S. church.
Ministry
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis: Priests need to have these 4 traits in the world today
Addressing a symposium on the priesthood in the Vatican on Feb. 17, Pope Francis presented what he called the “four forms of closeness” that he considers fundamental to the life of a priest.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Dear Bishops: We need to talk about the crisis of despair in Catholic priests
That morale is down for priests across the country is not exactly stop-the-presses material. But I wonder if it isn’t the canary in the coal mine of the Catholic Church today.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
How my time in the Air Force led me to the priesthood
34 years as a priest allow for a perspective no 19-year-old G.I. can have.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Survey: Priests in the U.S. are divided on politics and Pope Francis. But most agree the state of the church is ‘not so good.’
The survey also found a perception that younger priests are “more theologically conservative or orthodox than their older counterparts.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
The grace of a good priest: Neil Connolly and the South Bronx’s resurrection story
Angel Garcia tells the story of the Rev. Neil Connolly, a priest with a deep faith in his parishioners, who carried their faith from the mountains of Puerto Rico to the streets of the Bronx.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Covid-19 took music from our Masses. Now it’s (slowly) coming back.
As vaccination rates permit the lifting of some Covid-19 restrictions, congregations are easing back into singing. Here’s what music ministers have learned over the past year.
Posted inFaith, News
Father James Altman, who said Democrats would burn in Hell and called Covid restrictions ‘Nazi-esque,’ removed by his bishop
A Wisconsin bishop has taken the unusual step of removing a priest from the ministry after he made a series of divisive remarks about politics and the pandemic.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Pope Francis encourages Jesuit Father James Martin in his L.G.B.T. ministry
On the eve of the Outreach 2021 L.G.B.T. conference, Father Martin received a handwritten personal letter in Spanish from Francis, expressing his support.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Social media is producing ‘celebrity priests’ — and it’s a problem for their vocations
In this era of viral videos and the cult of social media personalities, understanding mental health and also the effects of celebrity priesthood is a conversation we must have.