As the Catholic Church prepares to elect a new leader, the editors of ‘America’ remember an extraordinary and beloved pontiff: Francis, a pope of monumental surprises.
US Church
Posted inFaith
What parish priests are hoping for in a new pope
And what pressing questions they believe the Catholic Church faces today
Posted inFaith and Reason
What Pope Francis taught us: Church teaching finds clarity and power in acts of mercy
Pope Francis taught the church that the magisterium finds its clarity not merely in propositions but in acts of mercy.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Pope Francis pushed the U.S. church to move beyond the culture wars—with mixed results
Pope Francis was overwhelmingly popular with ordinary Catholics in the United States. But Francis’ priorities often failed to take root here.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The helplessness of Jesus on the cross: A Holy Week reflection
For me, there are three themes that I draw out of our tradition and that I emphasize in my preaching: solidarity, empathy and gratuitousness.
Posted inFaith, News
JD Vance announces trip to Rome, meeting at Vatican without Pope Francis—for now
The Vatican press office has said that it has no information to share about Vance’s trip, but if the vice president were to participate in one of the liturgies, it would let people know.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
What Gaza is like now: 2.1 million people are ‘trapped, bombed and starved’
The Israeli military began perhaps its most aggressive ground offensive so far in the war to root out what is left of Hamas, maintaining an almost daily pace of incursions and airstrikes. The results have been devastating.
Posted inFaith, News
Report: Man charged in murder of Kansas priest wrote letters railing against Vatican II
An Oklahoma man charged Friday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Catholic priest wrote letters to a newspaper railing against the Catholic Church reforms of Vatican II and referring to a “strange new version of ‘Catholicism.’”
Posted inFaith, News
Disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick dies at 94
McCarrick had been removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican in June 2018 due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Why Pope Francis means so much to non-Catholics
The thought of losing Pope Francis one day is a hard one for me to grapple with; I know my reasons why. What surprised me was how many of my non-Catholic friends, even those whose feelings toward the church are decisively negative, also expressed their care and concern.