29 March AD 2024

VVEDNESDAY EDITION

Pope Francis’s team may need to explain new reluctance on ‘zero tolerance’

Tuesday made official a transition that’s been quietly underway for a while in terms of the Vatican’s response to the clerical sexual abuse scandals: Pope Francis and his aides are rethinking, if not the substance of a “zero tolerance” policy, at least the rhetoric of it, becoming increasingly unwilling to use that phrase. ☩ John L. Allen, Jr., at Crux

Why is Socialism Gaining Popularity?

If the Church’s rite of exorcism recognizes the danger of instigating envy, maybe we should too. ☩ John Clark at National Catholic Register

Pope Francis’ New Document ‘a Magna Carta of Youth Ministry & Vocations’

Christus Vivit reflects the Holy Father’s takeaways from the October youth synod. ☩ Edward Pentin at National Catholic Register

Male Homosexuality & Priestly Formation

There is no homosexuality. Of course, there are homosexuals, but there is no one thing, no one condition or syndrome that is homosexuality. If we are to address the “homosexual problem” in the Church, then we must first understand what we are talking about, and whatever that is, it is not a thing called homosexuality. . . ☩ Adrian Reimers at Crisis Magazine

Pietro Cardinal Parolin Condemns Verona Family Congress as Too Catholic

A northern Italian town became a battlefield in the culture wars this weekend during a three-day international congress on traditional family values. ☩ Claire Giangravè at Crux

Mornings & Forgiveness

There is a mysterious serenity and peace in the early hours of dawn. . . ☩ Noel Ethan Tan at Ignitum Today

Unplanned: A Movie Review

☩ Donald R. McClarey, J.D., The American Catholic

Yes, I am Autistic -Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

☩ Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, L.C., at Through Catholic Lenses

Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s 3 Rules for Fundraising

☩ Brice Sokolowski at CatholicFundraiser.net

Ross Douthat’s Expanding Seamless Garment

In my experience of reading & listening to Douthat, he is at his best when discussing conservative politics & theory (on its own terms), or discussing Roman Catholicism (on its own terms). It is when he mixes the two that problems begin to arise. ☩ Charles C. Camosy at Church Life Journal

Lincoln Diocese Comes Clean On Abuse

Last summer, in the wake of the McCarrick scandal, Peter Mitchell, a laicized Catholic priest of the Lincoln, Nebraska, diocese, published an essay on this blog in which he alleged that Monsignor Leonard Kalin (d. 2008) had groomed seminarians sexually. . . ☩ Rod Dreher at The American Conservative

The Proper Response to the College Admissions Scandal

There are a number of problematical and troubling questions about the criminal investigation and prosecution spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s office for Massachusetts. ☩ Stephen M. Krason at Crisis Magazine

The Parisian Church of Notre Dame de Lorette

Today I wished to share with our readers some photographs of the beautiful Parisian church of Notre Dame de Lorette. ☩ Shawn R. Tribe at Liturgical Arts Journal

Was the Early Church ‘Catholic’ or Just ‘Christian’?

Protestants often claim that the Church that Jesus founded was the “Christian Church,” not the Catholic Church. . . ☩ Jim Blackburn at Catholic Answers Magazine

“Little Places” and the Recovery of Civilization

It is mainly little places which permit the modesty of pace needed for long thoughts, & the conditions of closeness under which human beings begin to stand out & become distinct in their 1st & 2nd nature. These places are the veritable harbors of refuge & recovery for civilization. . . ☩ Eva Brann at The Imaginative Conservative

Assessing the Ethical (& Unethical) Implications of Artificial Intelligence

Pope Francis charges Vatican office to dedicate the next two years to AI study. ☩ Edward Pentin at National Catholic Register

Countering Identity Politics By Portraying the Father as a Gray-Haired Man

Contrary to what many might think, these images offer hope, not admonition, to radical feminists. ☩ David Clayton at New Liturgical Movement

Anti-Discrimination “Equality” Law Exemptions Do Not Lead to Fairness for All: An International Perspective

Although exemptions are often billed as a compromise, the evidence suggests that they will never be enough to satisfy those who think religious believers are discriminating and getting away with it. The “compromise” soon becomes a zero-sum game with only one winner. ☩ Paul Coleman at Public Discourse