News in Church

Sadness: Precious Teachings from this Emotion

Sadness: Precious Teachings from this Emotion

by: Giovanni Cucci, SJ in Spirituality,

Sadness is certainly not a desired or attractive feeling with its dense cluster of synonyms that are difficult to separate with any precision (boredom, angst, depression). It never has been, even if it has had a certain consideration in literary and philosophical circles (think of Spleen, the meditative or melancholic sadness, of Romanticism and decadence, or of the angst of Heidegger as the cipher of human existence) and has, in general, influenced the entire history of culture and medical research in the West.

Sadness: Precious Teachings from this Emotion

Sadness: Precious Teachings from this Emotion

by: Giovanni Cucci, SJ in Spirituality,

Sadness is certainly not a desired or attractive feeling with its dense cluster of synonyms that are difficult to separate with any precision (boredom, angst, depression). It never has been, even if it has had a certain consideration in literary and philosophical circles (think of Spleen, the meditative or melancholic sadness, of Romanticism and decadence, or of the angst of Heidegger as the cipher of human existence) and has, in general, influenced the entire history of culture and medical research in the West.

THIRTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

THIRTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

“Go, cursed people, out of my sight into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). These are the most terrible words that we find in the Gospel and are among others that fell from the lips of Jesus. Luke and Matthew remember some more: “I don’t know where you come from! Away from me, all you workers of evil”

Growing in Discernment: Aids for Growing in the Ability to Discern

Growing in Discernment: Aids for Growing in the Ability to Discern

by: Diego Fares SJ - La Civiltà Cattolica in Church Issues,

Krakow, Pope Francis said: “the Church needs to grow in discernment; in her capacity to discern.”1  He emphasized the importance of priestly formation and exhorted the Jesuits to work together with seminarians, especially by “giving them what we ourselves received from Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises: the wisdom of discernment.”

 
Contemporary Challenges for Global Catholicism

Contemporary Challenges for Global Catholicism

by: Thomas P. Rausch, SJ in Church Issues,

Jesuit Father Karl Rahner was one of the first to recognize that the Second Vatican Council had transformed the western Catholic Church into a world Church: “For the first time a world-wide Council with a world-wide episcopate came into existence and functioned independently.”

 
Crisis and the Future of the Church

Crisis and the Future of the Church

by: Antonio Spada in Church Issues,

 Does the Church have a future? What is the Church’s relationship with the passage of time, that is, to its history? The risk of going astray in answering these questions is very high. We can either fall into a merely sociological view, or make a purely abstract theological analysis, that is, embrace the ideology of the “youthfulness” of the Church with her “magnificent good fortune  and progress” in times of crisis.

 
Pioneer of African feminist says Church must give greater roles to women

Pioneer of African feminist says Church must give greater roles to women

by: Lucie Sarr |- La Civiltà Cattolica in Church Issues,

"Many priests think that I am too critical or too hard because I dare to say what I think, having always held positions of responsibility," says Marie Angélique Sagna Savané, a Senegalese sociologist and former politician. The 75-year-old Catholic, a former director of the UN Population Fund's office for Africa, is known as one of the pioneers of feminism on the continent. And she's not afraid to speak out for more inclusion of women in her Church's decision-making structure. 

Popes John XXIII and Francis: Two ‘Men in Dark Times’

Popes John XXIII and Francis: Two ‘Men in Dark Times’

by: Andreas Lind, SJ-La Civiltà Cattolica in Church Issues,

These are two transparent people whose lifestyles reveal a simplicity and authenticity that precede, or rather determine, the strategy informing their governing. Arendt marvels at the nonchalance of a pope who knows how to laugh and does so without restraint, just as Austen Ivereigh describes the closeness between the then Archbishop Bergoglio and his people.

Our Lady returns to Ipswich church after 485 years

Our Lady returns to Ipswich church after 485 years

by: Published by Keith Morris at August 10, 2023 in Church News,

Almost 500 years after a statue of Our Lady of Ipswich was removed from its shrine in the town by Thomas Cromwell’s men, a replica has been produced and now rests in St Pancras church. Fr Joseph Welch reports.

Isaac and Ishmael, two brothers, so close and so distant

Isaac and Ishmael, two brothers, so close and so distant

by: Vincenzo Anselmo, SJ - La Civiltà Cattolica in Church Issues,

The Abram cycle begins with a description of a family of nomads migrating to Mesopotamia a few millennia ago. Terah has three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We have no details about the relationship between these brothers, but we do know that Haran dies while his father is still alive. In addition, Sarai, Abram’s wife, cannot have children.