While my family and I lived in mainland China, we had the opportunity to visit Hangzhou. This city, along the famous West Lake, is known
Until Vatican II (1965) the Catholic Church carried out missionary activity to convert Jews to Christianity. In 2015 the Vatican said that “it neither conducts
Since the early 1950s there have been five versions of the (Catholic) Good Friday prayers for the Jews. Yet the issues still generate differences of
For many centuries the Church taught that “there is no salvation outside the Church.” On the surface this seems to be a straightforward claim that
In 1965 Vatican II stated that there is a Religious freedom… [which] leaves untouched the traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and
In his 1907 Syllabus Condemning the Errors of the Modernists, Pope St. Pius X rejected the idea that the discoveries of science or history should
“We’re all called to be great saints. Don’t miss the opportunity!” This powerful message is broadcast via reruns of a well-loved TV series of the
This is a complicated question because there are so many variables which are potentially relevant. To simplify the issues, just three aspects will be considered:
The Tridentine Rite of Mass is the Latin Mass which was celebrated prior to the 1969 introduction of the new form of Mass (the Novus
Who in their right mind would think a Mass featuring Jazz music is a good idea? Is this one of the fruits of Vatican II
This question is prompted by views like the following: The saints have never hesitated to break idols, destroy their temples, or legislate against pagan or
The Council of Trent (1545–63) said: “If any one says . . . that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity,
This is a question about the nature of faith. It asks whether a consideration of health and safety has implications for Christians’ models of faith
In the 1917 Code of Canon Law, marriage is defined, partially, as a “remedy of concupiscence” (1013). When the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) reflected on
Before the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) Catholics approached Ecumenism (Christian Unity) with an apparent negativity. Non-Catholics were seen as in error. They needed to correct
Many Christians believe in the necessity of “Scripture and Tradition,” as a twin source of God’s Revelation. Some Christians take the stronger view of “Traditionism.”
There is a view that Vatican II (1965) was a theological catastrophe. This view sees it as a capitulation to Modernism, sinking the Church into
“What do you think of Vatican II?” This question was posed to me just recently by my niece. We were on our way back from a
In 1965 Vatican II published Dignitatis Humanae (the Declaration on Religious Liberty). Ever since, there has been controversy about whether that document contradicted the Catholic
Just as Christ, the Lamb of God, was both the victim assuming the sin of all humanity, as well as the priest offering the sacrifice
In “The New Goth is the Original Goth,” I suggested (half fun and full earnest) that we ought to resurrect the “fence” of traditional practices
The Second Vatican Council sought to bring aggiornamento, an updating, to the Church. The most visible sign of reform ushered in by the Second Vatican Council
