First Things RSS Feed - Rev. Thomas V. Berg https://www.firstthings.com/author/rev-thomas-v-berg en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:51:24 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/rev-thomas-v-berg 60 Getting Formation Right https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/12/getting-formation-right https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/12/getting-formation-right Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0500 I heard a bishop recently describe what his formation team does at his seminary: “They’re there and they keep an eye on the guys.” And I cringed. Priests assigned to seminary formation are not hallway monitors. They are intended to be mentors, teachers, and guides—nuances all captured in the term “formator.” And seminary formation, we should hasten to add, is about much more than academics.

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]]> The Problem of Sexually Active Priests https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/07/the-problem-of-sexually-active-priests https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/07/the-problem-of-sexually-active-priests Mon, 23 Jul 2018 06:00:00 -0400 A “credible and substantiated” allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, new details of his emotional and sexual exploitation of Catholic seminarians, and an allegation of a years-long abusive relationship with another young man have led many to ask how sexual abuse committed by a high-ranking cleric could go undetected for so many years. 

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]]> Legion Reformed? https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/01/legion-reformed https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/01/legion-reformed Tue, 14 Jan 2014 00:02:00 -0500 Representatives elected by the many good men who compose my former religious congregation, the Legionaries of Christ, are currently meeting in Rome in an extraordinary General Chapter. The multi-week meeting was intended to mark the culmination of a three-year period of “profound re-evaluation” and reform initiated in the spring of 2009 when then Pope Benedict XVI requested a canonical visitation of the congregation in response to the turmoil into which it was thrust by revelations of sexual depravities by the congregation’s founder Marcial Maciel.

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]]> The Legion’s Scandal of Stalled Reform https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2012/06/the-legions-scandal-of-stalled-reform https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2012/06/the-legions-scandal-of-stalled-reform Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:01:00 -0400 Dear Readers,

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With gratitude for your support,

R. R. Reno
Editor

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]]> In Between the Angels and the Apes https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/12/in-between-the-angels-and-the-apes https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/12/in-between-the-angels-and-the-apes Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Neither Beast nor God: The Dignity of the Human Person

BY Gilbert Meilaender

Encounter, 180 pages, $21.95

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