The Dispatch
On ‘Christians’ and the ‘greatest Christians’
Why Cardinal Cupich’s remark that “some of the greatest Christians I know are people who don’t actually have a faith system that they believe in” is […]
canon law
The Dispatch
Tolerant of Libel? Turning the “Spotlight” on The Boston Globe
Veteran reporter Michael Rezendes makes several incorrect—even libelous—assertions in his recent remarks about the scandal of priests’ fathering children […]
The Dispatch
The Catholic Church recognizes most of the world’s ‘civil marriages’
Catholics should not be misled by thinking that “civil marriage” is not usually real marriage or think that any approval of “same-sex marriage” is consistent […]
The Dispatch
Liturgy, papal infallibility, and terminology
In what way can a pope declare that “liturgical reform” is “irreversible”? […]
The Dispatch
Archbishop Fernández’s apparent confusion over excommunication and canon law
The 1983 Code does not, and the 1917 Code did not, deprive divorced-and-remarried Catholics per se of ecclesiastical funeral rites. […]
The Dispatch
On Fr. Nichols’ recent remarks on the papacy and canon law
A key check against papal freedom turning into license, albeit a check harder to pin down than are neatly drafted canons, is “Tradition”. […]
The Dispatch
Canon law and that ‘Humanae vitae’ rumor
Too many Roman rumors, it seems of late, have turned out to be true (or close enough to true) to rule out recent rumors that a “papal commission” has been set up “to reconsider” (perhaps as a […]
The Dispatch
Divorce and the duties of Catholic lawyers
Civil lawyer C. T. Rossi, in his essay Permission for Divorce and the Catholic Lawyer’s Dilemma, complains that “the Church has done little to educate its legal practitioners about their responsibilities as Catholic lawyers”, complains that […]
The Dispatch
Bishop McGrath’s lacking letter on sacramental service
In 1977, during the darkest period of canonical confusion that ran from the end of the Second Vatican Council until the promulgation of the 1983 Code, then-Fr Patrick McGrath earned a doctoral degree in canon law from […]
The Dispatch
Understanding Bishop Paprocki’s norms on ‘same-sex marriage’
A few days ago, doubtless in response to pastoral questions he had been receiving from ministers in his local Church, Springfield IL Bp Thomas Paprocki issued diocesan norms regarding ministry toward persons who had entered a ‘same-sex marriage’. These […]