The Narthex

David, now a seminary professor and the father of a large family, was among the very best of my students. He introduced our family to what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would later term the Extraordinary Rite. My wife and I were already receptive. We had grown up with the Latin…

In order to appreciate what's at stake in the current Church-wide controversy surrounding restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), data on Latin Mass attendees is key. A post at LitugyGuy.com, a blog by Fr. Donald Kloster of Norwalk, Connecticut, shows results of a unique national survey of Latin Mass-goers…

Everyone -- whether priest, bishop, or layperson -- has ideas on how to change the liturgy. If I had my druthers, I would make the following changes, but these changes are neither mine to make nor a priest's to make: the congregation would kneel for the penitential moments of the…

The Novus Ordo brought a number of reforms besides celebrating in the vernacular. In his Apostolic Constitution of 1969, Pope St. Paul VI approvingly referred to Pius XII’s restoration in 1951 and 1955 of the Easter Vigil and the Rite of Holy Week, respectively. He also cited the desire of…

Given the news cycle, the document Human Fraternity—issued by Pope Francis and Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar—has used up its 15 minutes of fame. But let’s ignore that secular cycle. The Grand Imam speaks on behalf of a major Muslim center of learning. Pope Francis needs no introduction.…

Recently someone asked me, “what would be the first thing you would do if you were suddenly elected Pope?”  Although it was only a thought experiment, coming up with a single, first act was difficult.  The weight of spiritually fathering billions of people must be both daunting and crushing.  Ultimately…

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced support for hearing more from women in the Church. According to Crux (Jan. 31) this week he and the Vatican were offered advice from prominent survivor of clerical sexual abuse Marie Collins. In fact the sturdy Irishwoman, who was appointed by Pope Francis to the…

In a 2014 address to representatives of the International Association of Penal Law, Pope Francis announced his crusade for abolishing capital punishment world-wide. His march would continue until August of this year when he ordered a revision to Catechism paragraph 2267 deeming the death penalty “inadmissible.” While a change to…

Pope Francis is humanely concerned with over a dozen man-made problems that even school kids would wonder why the world doesn’t do something about: plastics littering the oceans, deadly drug gangs in Mexico, insane wars sparked by the pride of men, murderous Christian persecutions in Muslim nations, materialistic culture and…