De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

My recent article in the Catholic Herald - See here - was subject to some editing! A paragraph which juxtaposed the promotion of Aparecida by Cardinal Pierre with the stats for Catholic disaffiliation was not included. Here is the full text with links for reference: Recently the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered from November 13-16 for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore. There seem to have been two main stories which have emerged from this event. One is the continuing insistence on the pre-eminence of abortion: U.S. bishops approved a voting guide affirming abortion the ‘preeminent priority’, despite resistance from Pope Francis's favoured US prelates, Cardinals Tobin, McElroy and Cupich, who have repeatedly attempted to overturn this . The second story is the open clash between Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Military Services, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, and the papal nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre who, two weeks prio...

Personally I found it shocking that Pope Francis used his intervention at the Synod on Synodality to attack young priests who want to purchase dignified vestments to offer or assist the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Holy Father states:  “It is the great defeat to which clericalism leads us. And this with a lot of shame and scandal, just go to ecclesiastical tailors in Rome to see the scandal of young priests trying on cassocks and hats or albs and surplice with lace. Clericalism is a whip, it is a scourge, it is a form of worldliness that soils and damages the face of the Lord's bride; and enslaves God's faithful holy people.” Neither is this the first time he has invested time and energy in his papacy to attack clergy who vest in appropriate ways. In 2022 it was lace that saw the brunt of his ire. In 2016, he took aim at a wide range of clerical dress: So why is he so bothered by what young priests wear? It is easy to link his words with Matthew 23:5 where Jesus attacks th...