Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome
A part of the mosaics of the apse of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome (1100s)
This partial angle is all I could get from my permitted vantage point that day😞
my 📸 #MosaicMonday. #Mosaics#Catholic
I feel like no one is addressing the elephant in the room with #Biden. We have the chance to re-elect a #Catholic for the first time. This is America's chance to address years of anti-catholic prejudice. Let's do this!
Catholic priest in Clayton Park, Nova Scotia, Canada:
"Homosexual relationships, while they may feel very normal to the people involved in them, it's not in line with what God's plan for the family is," the priest said. "It's not true love, it's not true marriage."
And people ask why we need Pride and why there is no "straight pride".
Former nuns Gloria Branciani and Mirjam Kovac deserve credit for their courage in coming forward publicly and revealing their identities, as they tell the world about the bizarre religion-wrapped obscenities to which now-defrocked Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik subjected them.
At the heart of the abuse of vulnerable people that happens in religious groups globally: the assumption that men should have the divine right to control and use others.
In case we need reminding that a huge source of opposition to attempts to reform the Catholic church, especially under the current pope, is right-wing Catholic megadollars in the US.
Loup Besmond de Senneville reports on a secret meeting of Catholic bishops and cardinals that took place at a posh hotel in Prague in September, ostensibly to organize against the bogus threat of "gender ideology."
But the subtext of the meeting is clear: they see that Francis's days are numbered and are already organizing to try push through a hard-right successor. Gender issues are a useful tool for dividing the church and keeping it on the straight and narrow in its social teachings, especially about wealth and capitalism — the real issue that concerns the US right-wing megadonors spearheading the attempt to undermine Francis.
@mpjgregoire@PeterWyrm
I bought the entire package until I was 75. I didn’t leave the church; the church left me (and millions like me) when we all awoke to its reality.
The Guardian on why Pope Francis' attempt to reform the Catholic church deserves attention not just from Catholics:
"At a time when Christianity is being used as a weapon to promote toxic divisions in western politics, the battles being played out in the Vatican are part of a wider struggle to defend and develop a politics of generosity and inclusion."
It's something of a Christmas gift to read Michael Sean Winters' latest column in National Catholic Reporter in which he goes on a snide tear attacking the Colorado Supreme Court for holding Trump accountable to the US Constitution and proving that he fomented insurrection.
I say a Christmas gift: this is a valuable reminder that I'm missing nothing by ignoring almost anything the Catholic media, including in "liberal" iterations, publish.
It's too bad a majority of the Supreme Court share virtually every characteristic of a typical National Catholic Reporter subscriber, or columnist. At least I can celebrate my neighbors to the north, who have a Colorado Supreme Court who serve our Constitution, rather than using it as an excuse for white nationalist rulings. So I'm drinking a fine Colorado dark lager a bit later, from Fat Tire Brewery, in honor of four honorable and brave judges. #Catholic#Colorado
@Barrikoi1@wdlindsy
The National Catholic Reporter is a historical & constant voice of PROGRESSIVE Catholicism. Are you sure that’s what you meant? It frequently is called “the fish wrap” by conservative/traditionalist Catholics. I suspect those same four SCOTUS Justices wouldn’t be caught dead, or naked, reading NCR.
The Polish bishops’ statement did not expressly criticize the Vatican declaration on blessing same-sex couples but appeared to conflict with the guidance contained within it.
