Pope Francis has dealt us so many surprises in his first week that it’s hard to qualify anything as a surprise anymore. According to the Holy See Press Office, Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday at Casal del Marmo, a prison for youth in Rome, and will wash the feet of twelve prisoners. Traditionally, the pope… Read More Pope Breaking Tradition, Will Visit Prison and Wash Feet of Inmates on Holy Thursday

Yesterday in Guatemala City, Efraín Rios-Montt, the former military dictator of Guatemala went on trial for his role in the genocide that claimed the lives of 200,000 men, women, children, and babies. Here is a small glimpse into what life was like under his rule: Then they took me to another door, and there were… Read More Efraín Rios-Montt on Trial

For thirty seconds, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were silent in St. Peter’s Square at the request of the newly elected Pope Francis. It was a stunning move by a man whose ascension to the papacy has shocked an institution that has seen it all. But if you knew anything about Jorge Maria Bergoglio’s religious… Read More The silence at the heart of Pope Francis’s Jesuit identity

Michael Sean Winters of National Catholic Reporter, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies (where I am also a fellow), has a nice piece in the The Daily Beast, where he discusses three groups of Catholics operating in contemporary American politics: old-style Democratic politicians, a new breed of Catholic Republicans, and… Read More MSW on Politically Homeless Catholics

Sometimes the media misses the elephant in the room, and this is clearly one of those occasions. Buried within several news reports is the stunning revelation that Pope Francis, then Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, may have quietly backed gay civil unions as an alternative to the gay marriage law that passed in Argentina in July 2010.… Read More Breaking News: Records Show Pope Francis Supported Gay Unions (UPDATED)