After years of Catholics having to confess their sins to the clergy, it is now time for priests and bishops “to come clean about what they have done and what they have failed to do,” the CEO of the Knights of Columbus said.
In these current times of confusion, doubt, sadness or anger, instead of letting our passions rule us we should come to Jesus in his flesh and blood, in his Eucharist.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has targeted clericalism as an illness in the church, an ailment that pretends “the church” means “priests and bishops,” that ignores or minimizes the God-given grace and talents of laypeople and that emphasizes the authority of clerics over their obligation of service.
Back in December 2009, I was standing in the lobby of the U.S. Consolate in Guangzhou, China, with friends who had just become parents through the miracle of adoption.
Bishop Denis J. Madden, urban vicar and auxiliary bishop emeritus of Baltimore, will lead a prayer walk for peace Aug. 22 in Park Heights.
One 24-second clip of Sister Sobieck throwing the pitch had garnered 2.73 million internet views by midday Aug. 21.
What could be more fun than eating sushi on the water in Fell’s Point on a summer evening? We were about to find out.
Parish priests and deacons throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore used their Aug. 18-19 homilies, along with messages on social media, bulletins and letters, to address their flocks in response to the recent findings of the Pennsylvania grand jury report concerning clergy child sexual abuse and the way bishops handled abusers.
“No effort must be spared” to prevent future cases of clerical sexual abuse and “to prevent the possibility of their being covered up,” Pope Francis said in a letter addressed “to the people of God.”
The only way forward in this difficult hour is to center our lives on Christ and through Christ to give the Spirit access to our hearts. In that way, instead of clergy and laity growing apart from one another, we will strive in God’s grace to repair broken relationships, to heal those who have been wounded and disillusioned, and to renew the internal workings of the Church.
My husband and sons made it home as the rain was starting, but there were no fish for dinner.
Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said the only way to regain the trust of the laity after decades-long claims of sexual abuse by priests and others at six Pennsylvania dioceses is by deeds and one of those deeds may mean getting rid of bishops who hid abusers.
