Matthew Schmitz

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church elects Metropolitan Neophyte—-like most of the church’s leaders, a former Communist agent—- as its patriarch : His reputation as one of the most deserving candidates for the patriarchal throne risked being marred last year after revelations that he . . . . Continue Reading »

So say philosophy professors Pierre Dulau and Martin Steffens in a dismayed article for  La Croix , the semi-official paper of French Catholicism: Whatever may be the justifications we may give to this decision, the fact is there: this resignation by the pope is a catastrophe. It is an event . . . . Continue Reading »

Benedict XVI’s efforts to support the Church in China were “wasted by others close to him,” says emeritus bishop of Hong Kong  Cardinal Joseph Zen : This Pope has done things that for China that he has not done for any other country: to no other particular Church has he . . . . Continue Reading »

Should the next pope be a nun? a group of nuns? a non-Catholic? David Mills picks apart the refrains that have typified much of the press coverage of Benedict in a column for the Pittsburgh Catholic : Some of these supposed experts just get things wrong, like the television reporter who solemnly . . . . Continue Reading »

From Charles Dickens’ essay “Philadelphia, and Its Solitary Prison,” quoted today in the Washington Post by George Will : In the outskirts, stands a great prison, called the Eastern Penitentiary: conducted on a plan peculiar to the state of Pennsylvania. The system here, is rigid, . . . . Continue Reading »

The National Council of Churches is moving from its offices in New York’s “God Box” to a Capitol Hill office : The National Council of Churches  confirmed today  that the ecumenical council will shut down its historic office on New York’s Riverside Drive, . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholic News Service reports : The Jesuit-run Woodstock Theological Center, on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington — another Jesuit-run institution — will close at the end of June, a victim of the shrinking number of Jesuits available to staff it. Yes, Fr. Reese was . . . . Continue Reading »

From an interview with Bishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the Vatican’s highly respected former prosecutor of child sex abuse cases: In 2004, Maciel celebrated his 60th anniversary of priestly ordination at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. All the Roman Curia went, bishops and . . . . Continue Reading »

Today, February 18, some Christian communities celebrate the feast of the great reformer Martin Luther. If we are to take Pope Benedict as our guide (Luther might warn us against this) even we Catholic Christians can consider it a day worth celebrating. In a 2011 address to Lutheran leaders in . . . . Continue Reading »

1. Muskrat Catholics living south of Detroit enjoy a longstanding informal dispensation to eat muskrat (the local pronunciation is MUSH-rat) on Fridays of Lent. A 2002 document from the Archdiocese of Detroit confirmed that “there is a long-standing permission—-dating back to our missionary . . . . Continue Reading »