The Narthex

Another Example of Inverted Pneumatology I’ve criticized a distorted theology of the Holy Spirit I’ve called “inverted pneumatology,” which pretends that today the Holy Spirit primarily speaks not to the world from the Church but rather teaches the Church from a secularized world. Writing in the National Catholic Reporter (I…

Timothy Reichert’s “Christian Ownership Maximalism” is an original article (linked below) in the December 2025 issue of First Things. It deserves wide readership, thorough debate, and I’d argue adoption in Catholic circles. Christendom as we have known it -- whether the religiously suffused culture of medieval Europe or the ethnic…

Advent comes with a repertoire of hymnody unique to the season, such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Among traditional Advent hymns now sung in English-speaking Catholic churches is Englishwoman Eleanor Farjeon’s “People, Look East,” which was sung in my parish last Sunday. I had to wonder whether some dioceses…

On November 23, Slovenia said no to euthanasia. With 53% of voters voting against and 46% in favor, Slovenians rejected a law that would have allowed terminally ill patients to receive assistance in ending their lives. This was not a narrow margin due to abstentions: Turnout reached nearly 41%, with…

Some Western European clerics are again singing the praises of secularization. The latest, according to Stefano Fontana, is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Italy. (His November 17 opening address to the bishops’ meeting in Assisi is linked below.) That song, however, is hardly…

Catholics have traditionally dedicated November to prayer for the souls in Purgatory, especially on All Souls' Day. To encourage efficacious prayer for the departed, the Church grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to Catholics who visit a cemetery from November 1-8 and pray for the dead. The indulgence…

 For the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the children of the light. – Luke 16:8

The Third Synodal Assembly of the Italian Church marked a historic turning point in its pastoral approach to LGBT people. With approval of the Synodal Path's summary document, "Yeast of Peace and Hope," the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) overwhelmingly approved proposals that represent an unprecedented openness toward homosexual and transgender…

SNAP Shutdown The continuing shutdown of the federal government has interrupted SNAP payments. SNAP is a federal program to provide food money to the poor. There are currently more than 41 million SNAP recipients. This seems to be one of those areas where the priority of the poor comes into…

The Third Synodal Assembly of the Church in Italy marked a historic turning point in the pastoral approach to LGBT people. With the approval of “Yeast of Peace and Hope,” its Synodal Path Summary Document, the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) overwhelmingly approved proposals representing unprecedented openness toward homosexual and transgender…

In his video defending immigrants, Chicago archbishop Blase Cupich begins by talking about migrants without regard to their status. “We stand with the father who labors in silence to build a better future.” Then, speaking expressly to immigrants “without documents,” Cupich adds, “Most of you have been here for years.…

“Migration” features, albeit in limited fashion, in Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te. Of the three paragraphs that mention it, two are historical. I am not a professional historian but I think I know enough to ask some questions about what those two paragraphs really support versus what some…

In the landscape of the Catholic Church in the United States, marked by tensions between social commitment and fidelity to moral doctrine, a development has emerged that has shaken the foundations of ecclesial dialogue. Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, announced his intention to award a "Lifetime Achievement Award" to…

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Pope Leo XIV took advantage of his August 28 audience with a delegation of politicians from the Diocese of Créteil, France, to reaffirm the principles of the Church's sound doctrine, unchanged over time. Pope Leo XIV's speech, extraordinarily beautiful, is disarmingly clear. He…

Rod Dreher, of Benedict Option fame, opined on X that countries where “basic patriotism is demonized” are “on the brink of civil conflict.” He made his observation in response to a post by a British man in Devonshire whose display of the Union Jack in his garden elicited a note…