15 Jan 2021
Jesuit Father James Martin wrote this week that a number of Catholic bishops and priests stoked the January 6 Capitol riots by characterizing the Democratic Party as the “party of death,” for which they need to repent.
“Can anyone doubt that the moral calculus proposed by some Christian leaders, including Catholic priests and bishops, framed in the language of pure good versus pure evil, contributed to the presence of so many rioters brandishing overtly Christian symbols as they carried out their violence?” Father Martin wrote in a Jan. 12 article for
America magazine titled “How Catholic Leaders Helped Give Rise to Violence at the U.S. Capitol.”
What we least expect in life can suddenly occur and impact us like a crashing wave.
Niall O’Dowd, Publisher,
Irish America
Such was the impact of the COVID-19 virus that arrived like a medieval plague in early 2020 spreading contagion and death to the four corners of the earth.
Suddenly, what we had only imagined through historical accounts of other plagues was upon us forcing a crisis like none other. The world faced its gravest crisis since World War II with a defenseless population in over 140 countries suddenly in a fight for their very lives.
At the beginning most efforts seemed like those of King Canute seeking to hold the very waves of the ocean back.
Catholic leaders, progressive and conservative, condemn the violence at the Capitol
VATICAN CITY (RNS) – ‘Those who resort to inflammatory rhetoric must accept some responsibility for inciting the increasing violence in our nation,’ said Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington. Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The mob proceeded to breach the Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
January 7, 2021
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Progressive and conservative Catholic leaders condemned the storming of the Capitol, calling the mob’s actions Wednesday (Jan. 6) “sinful” and “appalling,” while reminding Catholic faithful “this is not who we are as Americans.”
Modernity in the Vatican Causes Strong Controversy
The Woman Post | Carolina Rodríguez Monclou
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Some say that the birth is out of the traditional since it includes an astronaut, with a touch of modernity and representing that Jesus reaches all parts of the universe. Others say it seems strange and is not commensurate with what is required in times of a pandemic.
The nativity scene was created by art school students in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s when humans landed on the moon. The sculptures were also made with the help of masters in Castelli, an Italian city famous for ceramics, between 1965 and 1975.
“It is truly ugly. How very sad,” Deacon Keith Fournier of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, tweeted. “The Catholic Church has such beautiful art. This increasingly ugly world is hungering for beauty. Why would this be chosen?”
A host on Relevant Radio, a Catholic network, called the display “unusually modernistic.” Art historian Elizabeth Lev in America Magazine, a Jesuit publication, noted the “universal outpouring of mockery.” And The New York Post said “if it were a Broadway play, it probably would have closed on opening night.”
Seemingly on the defensive, an article posted this week to the Vatican’s official news website says the 2020 “Christmas crib” is said to hold “cultural heritage not immediately visible to the eye.” The 52-piece ceramic display was made in the style that is typical of Castelli, Italy, which is known internationally for its pottery, the article states. Students and teachers assembled the set over 10 years, from 1965 to 1975.