Catholic theologian, Past President of the College Theology Society, Senior Fellow at New Ways Ministry 🏳️🌈, fifer, he/him. Views my own. Retweet≠endorsement
The problem is not that J.D. Vance is a Catholic convert, and it’s lazy and hurtful to other converts to attack him for that. The problem is that his catechesis seems to have omitted Catholic Social Teaching.
Others have said so, but Fr. Timothy Radcliffe O.P.'s 6 meditations for the synodal retreat are a tour de force of ecclesiology and spirituality. To be viewed or read slowly, savoringly, during this synod as we pray along.
Here they are in order:
Fellow LGBTQ+ Catholics:
God loves you.
God loves you.
God loves you.
I hope you already knew that, but today you might need to be reminded of what the Holy Spirit has already said to you.
This is an embarrassing letter. The idea that ecclesial abuse of children was a result of the 1960s, a supposed collapse of moral theology, and “conciliarity” is an embarrassingly wrong explanation for the systemic abuse of children and its coverup.
When we went to a Wednesday audience two weeks ago the band that was playing for the pope played “tequila” by the champs and the entire crowd shouted “TEQUILA” while the pope was driving around in his popemobile.
Let's start an annual week of prayer of thanksgiving for the women of the church and hope for their fuller leadership, preaching, and teaching in all our churches. Starting today, the Feast of Mary Magdalene, and ending next week, on the Feast of St. Martha.
Re Card McCarrick, it’s crucial to avoid the narrative that the problem is gay priests. The problem is some gay priests abusing their power, abetted by the culture of silence regarding clerical sexuality.
The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid,
@AP
exclusive finds.
Pro tip: if you’re not attending church due to coronavirus, make sure to still make your contribution. They still need to keep the lights on, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc.
“Jesus we behold you lying in the manger…We see you as poor, in order to teach us that true wealth does not reside in things but in persons, and above all in the poor: forgive us, if we have failed to acknowledge and serve you in them.”
@Pontifex
, Christmas Eve homily
Another bus just arrived outside
@VP
residence. One man tells me that traveled 2 days from Texas and he came from Ecuador. He said he was happy to be here. Bus includes children and women- moved to another bus by aid workers on ground after standing outside briefly in 14 degrees
Happy Feast of St Mary Magdalene, especially to all the women preaching the Good News, in and out of season, when their voices are heard and when their voices are ignored or unwelcome, by their words and by their lives.
Friends - lots of families will get their food benefits on the first of the month tomorrow, and may not have been able to shop as often or easily as you. Live on what you have in the house for the next couple of days, so that they have a full selection of what they need.
Happy to announce some good news - while I'll be taking some time this year to rest and work on a number of overdue writing projects, I'm also starting today as a part-time Senior Fellow at
@NewWaysMinistry
!
Perhaps the
@USCCB
should offer a dispensation from the Sunday obligation for Catholics who will be afraid to leave their house tomorrow?
#stopICEraids
Just want to take a moment to savor that, however small in numbers, we have "padri e madri del Sinodo" - not just "synod fathers" but "synod fathers and mothers".
Between Laudate Deum, the synod on synodality, and now an upcoming Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Francis is literally keeping theologians fully employed this month!
Today is the feast of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower, the saint of confidence. This coming 15 October, an Apostolic Exhortation on her message will be published. Let us pray that Saint Thérèse help us have confidence and to work for the missions.
So call out the Catholic Church in the US for lots of reasons, and I could name and have named a bunch - but the image of a shadowy cabal trying to game the system doesn't seem accurate this time around. 12/12
One possible explanation of Pope Francis's silence on Viganò: to respond to the accusations would require him to directly critique the conduct of his immediate predecessors.
For the record, I think that should happen. But one can see why he would want to think carefully first.
So most of this money went to help keep the pay and healthcare of the largely lay employees of parishes, charities, and schools who suddenly lost most of their donations, not to some bishops sitting back and cackling with a cat on their laps. 3/12
I know I should care for people more than buildings, that the church is more than its artifacts and cathedrals, and that if my heart were purer the death of a single child in Mozambique would fill me with as much sorrow than this.
But I'm still crying.
Deeply saddened by the death of our colleague Dr. Shawnee Daniels-Sykes. She was a plenary panelist at our
@CTStheology
Annual Meeting this past June, and her contribution will be in our forthcoming Annual Volume. May she rest in peace, with our gratitude for her life and work.
Mourning my friend and colleague Gerard Mannion. I hope to honor his memory by being at least half as generous to my students and colleagues as he was, and at least half as passionate for justice in our church and world as he was.
Our current seminary model is a perfect solution for the education of clergy -- in the 16th century. Our current crisis requires relooking at how we form clergy to be leaders with and not over their fellow adult Christians.
I have so many questions about the catechesis of newer Catholics for whom
#AmazonSynod
is so challenging. Were they not exposed to the idea of development of doctrine or the rich diversity of Catholicism across the world and centuries? Did they think they were joining a museum?
Introduced myself before mass this morning at
@holytrinitydc
to visitors, who turned out to be from Ireland. One turned out to be
@markduffymayo
, a councillor for Co.
@MayoDotIE
, and I’ve now been made an “Honourary Mayo Person”!
Full room for the discussion on "Catholic Theology and the LGBTQ Person": Brian Flanagan, Craig Ford (moderator), Lisa Fullam and Jason Steidl Jack.
#Outreach2023
at
@FordhamNYC
@OutrchCatholic
If
#COVID
ー19 is going to mean working from home but not losing your paycheck, you need to start thinking now about how you’re going to help those who will. We need to support the most biologically vulnerable _and_ the most economically vulnerable.
Woke up feeling refreshed from such a stimulating
@CTStheology
Annual Meeting, and grateful to
@JessicaCoblentz
and
@DanHoranOFM
for their vision. Deeply humbled (read: terrified) by my colleagues’ trust in me as CTS President, and filled with hope for the future of our Society.
Karl Rahner: the church's sinfulness is unique: "for she alone can distort by her sin the eternal visible presence of Christ in the world which she is and so wrap a shroud about him — and do this in the face of men who must seek him as a matter of life and death!"
First, it's partially based on the ecclesiological fallacy that there's one big "Roman Catholic Church" with a singular budget and payroll, when legally and financially it operates as a collective of small, often vulnerable parishes and institutions. 2/12
In times that are particularly difficult and draining, I find it’s helpful to remember those moments when things go right, when understanding is sought and achieved, when there’s an important bridge built between different perspectives. (thread)
rather than to some central deposit called "the Catholic Church in the US." In fact, lots of it probably went to small organizations and institutions just to keep their doors open and, I repeat because it's so important, their _mostly lay staff_ with families paid. 4/12
As
@Synod_va
is set to officially open on Oct. 4, LGBTQ+ Catholics are expressing gratitude that Pope Francis' revamped process for the synod has included some of their voices, and sharing cautious hope that the outcome will lead to even greater openness.
It seems that 90% of adulting is coming to terms with the fact that that unpleasant task/conversation/phone call/assignment is not going to go away if you ignore it, so you might as well just do it.
A banner with this quote attributed to Pope Francis is posted on the church fence:
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life”
On the other side is a Black Lives Matter banner
But here, Catholic church leaders acted like responsible supervisors of nonprofits to protect the welfare of their employees and clients, and indirectly their communities, in the midst of an immediate collapse in cashflow, 10/12
One danger of current discussions of synodality is the lack of a clear definition of synodality - it can easily become a slogan or cipher that can mean everything and nothing. 1/x
The Madaleva lecturers at the
@theCTSA
. Nancy Pineda-Madrid, Lisa Sowle Cahill, Beth Johnson, Cathy Clifford, Susan Ross, Mary Ann Hinsdale, and Mary Catherine Hilkert. The possible world is presente.
#CTSA2019
“All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” Today’s 2nd reading _might_ have something so say to us on Catholic Twitter…
We are proud to share that, on behalf of our amazing authors, we received 30
#CatholicBookAwards
from the
@CathPressAssn
. 🎉
See the full list of awards here:
Congratulations to our authors and our amazing team!
Pope Francis left the Vatican on Feb. 25 to pay a visit to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See where he expressed his concerns over the country's war against Ukraine.
@cwwhiteNCR
reports:
#PopeFrancis
announces that everyone in St Peter's Square will be given a rosary made in the Holy Land & asks young people & all Catholics to pray the rosary for peace, especially in the Holy Land.
#PalmSunday
And yes, the $$$ went to dioceses that have gone bankrupt due to clerical sexual abuse of minors. But these funds weren't going to pay for abuse settlements, as far as I can see from the reporting, but to keep the soup kitchens open and the parish HVACs working. 8/12
Liturgical Press is honored to be the publisher of seven award winners in the Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) 2019 Excellence in Publishing Awards which recognizes the best in Catholic publishing. Learn more about the winning titles here:
Wow, this is amazing. Don't know how I missed this earlier today. Compared to the mostly hostile response to Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry two decades ago, this gives me a lot of hope about the reception of
#TCTCV
. Very quick scan, but some first thoughts/observations: 1