By the time you read this, we may very well have a new pope. The conclave begins this Wednesday, May 7, and in modern times, it has not taken more than three days to elect a new pontiff for the Universal Church.
Tag: pope
Pope Francis dies at age 88
Pope Francis has died April 21 at the age of 88.
Bishop O’Connor travels to Rome for ad limina visits and to attend the Second Vatican Council
Eighth in a series on the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
Bishop William P. O’Connor traveled to Rome several times after becoming the first bishop of the Diocese of Madison.
Ad limina visits
Bishop O’Connor made three ad limina visits to the Vatican. These visits are called ad limina apostolorum (“to the threshold of the Apostles”) because they are traditionally pilgrimages made by bishops to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The bishops in the United States are required to make visits to Rome personally or through authorized delegates about every five years to present a report on the state of the diocese.
Letter from Bishop Hying concerning Pope Francis’ comments on the topic of ‘civil unions’
On October 21, news of Pope Francis’ comments from a 2019 interview included in a new documentary film, which seem to signal his private and personal support for civil unions of homosexuals, made world headlines.
Earth Day and Laudato Si’
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A parishioner asked his pastor, “Father, it seems that every time I read a Catholic newspaper, I read about taking care of the environment. Shouldn’t we Catholics be more concerned about taking care of the world’s bigger problems such as war, hunger, and sickness?”
The priest responded, “Haven’t you heard about Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology? It is the first encyclical in Catholic Church history to focus on ecology and care for creation. In this encyclical, Pope Francis makes a connection between care for the environment and war, hunger, and sickness.”
The time is 100 seconds to midnight
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On January 23, 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board, together with 13 Nobel Laureate consultants, moved their famous Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds before midnight — warning how extremely near humanity is to a global catastrophic midnight posed by the increasing threats of nuclear war and climate change.
“We are now expressing how close the world is to catastrophe in seconds — not hours, or even minutes. It is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been in the history of the Doomsday Clock.
What is ‘synodality’ and walking the synodal path?
It was a great privilege for me to participate in the Synod on Young People in the fall of 2018.
The maintenance of harmony in the Church
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Some years ago, my friend Msgr. Francis Mannion wrote an article concerning the three essential features of the Eucharistic liturgy — namely, the priest, the rite, and the people.
When these elements are in proper balance, rightly ordered liturgy obtains.
Further, from these categories, he argued, we can discern the three typical distortions of the liturgy: clericalism (too much of the priest), ritualism (a fussy hyper-focus on the rite), and congregationalism (a disproportionate emphasis on the people).
Spending time with my spiritual father
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I write these words from the Eternal City of Rome, whither I’ve come with my brother bishops from Region 11 (California, Nevada, and Hawaii) for our ad limina visit.
This is a regular and canonically required trip to pray at the limina apostolorum (the threshold of the Apostles), the tombs of Ss. Peter and Paul, and to meet with the successor of Peter.
Yesterday was the first official day of the pilgrimage, and it was extraordinary indeed.
Words of Saint John Paul II lit a fire in me
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Forty years ago this week, Saint John Paul II energized and inspired our country during his epic first Pastoral Visit to the United States.
Saint Paul VI had visited New York City in 1965 during a visit to the United Nations, but that short encounter was the extent of any papal presence in this country. Arriving directly from his remarkable pilgrimage to Ireland, Saint John Paul landed in Boston on a Monday afternoon and electrified all of us.
Listening to the pope
I was 16 at the time, thinking of priesthood, struggling to discern the mystery of such a call. I was also working my first restaurant job; having graduated from washing dishes to frying chicken, I was making $2.32 an hour, which even then was a terrible wage.