Latin is fine for academic work, writes the Rev. Joseph P. Amar, but not for worship. No ancient language can hope to speak with the clarity or immediacy of a modern, native language.
Vatican II
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Will Germany’s ‘synodal journey’ change the Catholic world?
German Catholics are embarking on what is being called a “synodal journey,” but it promises to be a potentially rocky one, focusing on subjects the church usually avoids.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Catholic Church architecture in the 20th century
Catherine Osborne has produced a significant study of changing tastes in the construction of American Catholic churches between 1925 and 1975.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
How to get more people to sing at Mass: Stop adding new hymns
A supposed need for variety imposes more and more hymns on congregants, but the cost of novelty can be the full, active participation of those in the pews, writes John Zupez, S.J.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
A church remade in the midst of modernity
The Catholic Book Club’s new selection studies the Catholic Church’s ecclesial response to modernity over the last century.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: There is more than one way to convert to Catholicism
Many will find Sohrab Ahmari’s account of coming to faith compelling and moving, while others may find his emphasis on an authoritative church confusing or even off-putting.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Pope Benedict’s letter on sex abuse is not an attack on Francis (or Vatican II)
The pope and the pope emeritus are not so far apart: Both Benedict and Francis warn against responding to the abuse crisis with a ’self-made’ church that ignores the Gospel.
Posted inEditorials, Faith
The Editors on the eve of Vatican II: Will it succeed?
From 1962: What grounds exist for reasonable confidence in the Council’s outcome?
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
The day Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Bruce Springsteen met at America magazine
Perhaps the most incredible day in the history of America happened in the lobby in 1967.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis puts dialogue with Lefebvrites under the doctrinal congregation
Pope Francis has suppressed the Ecclesia Dei Commission, a significant decision with consequences for the Holy See’s relations with the priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.