Brendan Callaghan SJ situates Pope Francis' motu proprio letters about annulment reform in their pastoral context in order to think about their likely effects. What has – and has not – been changed, and why?
The Lord Jesus, the Gentle Judge
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The beatification of Benedict Daswa
Anthony Egan SJ introduces Benedict Daswa and explains why the decision to make him South Africa’s first Beatus was controversial. What might be the significance of this beatification for the Southern African – and global – Church?
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Laudato si’: Concern for our global commons
Climate scientists Ottmar Edenhofer and Christian Flaschland give a detailed analysis of Laudato si', its place in church tradition and its dialogue with current climate science. How is Pope Francis challenging the Church and the world?
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Pope Francis and the American dream
Pope Francis’ refusal to align himself with either liberals or conservatives on his visit to the US was a challenge to all those who accept such divisions, inside and outside of the Church.
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The Politics of Papal Visits
Pope John Paul II visited Chile in 1987 he was welcomed as a ‘messenger of life, pilgrim of peace’. How did Pope Francis live up to these same accolades on his visit to Cuba and the United States?
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Nostra Aetate – the moral heart of the Second Vatican Council
Michael Barnes SJ explains why the process of Nostra Aetate’s development is as important as the text itself. ‘Perhaps more than any other document, and despite its obvious weaknesses, it encapsulates the extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit that characterised the Council’.
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Global Godliness?
What does our belief in ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’, which we profess in the Nicene Creed, really mean? It expresses a desire for unity across space and time, which is what God wills for humanity, says Timothy Radcliffe OP.
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A merciful Church for a wounded world
At the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the journals of the European Jesuit provinces come together to welcome Pope Francis’ call for the Church to be an ‘oasis of mercy’. In this jointly-published editorial, we explore how ‘mercy is at the core of the Church’s identity’ and ‘at the centre of the Church’s missionary activity’.
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The face of mercy
Teresa White FCJ ponders the ways in which we can recognise and practise merciful behaviour in our lives, and encourages us to be attentive to expressions of mercy throughout this year, particularly during its Advent beginning.
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The scandal of mercy excludes no one
Mercy is scandalous, says James Keenan SJ, precisely because it excludes no one. How and why has the Church practised this mercy through the centuries by responding to those most in need?
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The Solemnity of the Mother of God
On 1 January, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It may seem like a simple or even obvious name to give to Mary, but the controversies that beset the development of this particular devotion reveal otherwise. Dorian Llywelyn SJ explores the enduring significance of this ancient feast, the title of which ‘contains the whole mystery of the Incarnation.’
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Pope Francis, the hermeneutic of conspiracy and the ‘Three F’s’
The author of a new book on the Pope’s ‘not-so-cultured despisers’ argues that conspiracy theories have a sociological significance and require our attention if we are to understand the phenomenon of Pope Francis.
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Whatever happened to solidarity?
Patrick Riordan SJ considers what solidarity involves and why it seems to be lacking in responses to two major contemporary crises.
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Spotlight
This film is a reminder of the importance of regarding the Church, whatever else she may be, as a ‘school’ for discipleship, for the ‘discipline’ of holiness. In which case, the truly authentic, Catholic response to this film has to be: what can we – must we – learn from it?
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To instruct the ignorant
In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has called for Lent to be ‘lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy.’ What does it mean to ‘instruct the ignorant’?
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To counsel the doubtful
Our Lenten series on the Spiritual Works of Mercy and Laudato si’ considers how the encyclical itself is an exercise in counselling the doubtful. ‘As our doubts disappear, our responsibilities come into focus,’ writes Sr Margaret Atkins, and responsibilities which call us to be counsellors ourselves.
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Faith: the substance of things to be hoped for
Gerard Kilroy describes a memorable evening of ecumenical discussion and shared liturgy at Hampton Court Palace which would, he says, have met with the approval of Edmund Campion.
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To bear wrongs patiently
When we struggle to show patience, particularly in the face of what we perceive to be wrongdoing, we should look to the resilience of the natural world for encouragement and instruction in this particular work of mercy, says Henry Longbottom SJ.
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To pray for the living and the dead
‘The great parable of God’s mercy is the best place to start’ if we want to think about why praying for the living and the dead is merciful, says Richard Leonard SJ.
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To admonish the sinner
Laudato si’ embodies an Ignatian approach to sin that is at the heart of Francis’ papacy says Edel McClean as she reflects on how the encyclical helps us think about what admonishing the sinner means.
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