catholicism

In response to Richard Dawkins’ and Christopher Hitchens’ attempt to arrest the Pope for complicity in the sexual abuse crisis, Frances Kissling argues that the Church only responds to external pressure anyway. What does it matter where it comes from?

Coming from Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, this stunt is likely to provide support for those who believe that atheists and secularists are just out to destroy a church they believe to be evil.

In the latest diavlog in RD’s collaboration with Bloggingheads.tv, Anthea Butler and Michelle Goldberg discuss the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, Christian militias, the GOP’s spiral of extremism, and more.

Holding the Catholic Church to account.

From an all-male hierarchy that trains priests to look only to their superiors for guidance, to a theological emphasis on secrecy, to the “creeping infallibility” that confers divine authority on church leaders, the Catholic church needs reform—at a structural level. And it’s up to the laity to begin the process.

In the midst of the worst crisis to hit Roman Catholicism in centuries, it is clear that the all-male rule of the Church has failed.

In the midst of new developments in the Catholic sex abuse scandal and in light of last year’s surprise invitation from the Pope to conservative Episcopalians, a new invitation is extended to disheartened Catholics.

When Pope Benedict refers to the ever-growing scandal threatening the Church as “petty gossip of dominant opinion” he shows, for all his theological learning, a shocking disregard for both his flock and for the moral standing of the institution he heads. Is it curtains for the Church as we know it?

Lost in (and sullied by) the sexual scandals is the Church’s investigation into an apparition of Mary.

A passionate call for reform from a scholar of religion and cradle Catholic. When does an institutional theology become so rotten that it needs to be taken out at the roots? It’s time for a new reformation, with justice for victims of sexual abuse.