the papacy

Bellarmine on Hell-Bound Popes. Our Patron’s Feast today.

Today is the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, the patron of the Bellarmine Forum/Wanderer Forum Foundation. It is the perfect opportunity to illustrate one of the many, many, many examples from his life of why he is the perfect saint for our time in America.  The trouble is that there are so many reasons! We could discuss…

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Why People Don’t Get Pope Francis: He’s Too Traditional

I will admit to an immediate apprehension when the media takes an especial liking to a particular Catholic bishop or even the pope.  I am even more apprehensive when I see a prelate “ham it up” for the cameras, never miss an opportunity to speak to some media outlet, or look like he is taking…

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No Holiness In Dissension From the Pope

Recent days have seen much media attention focused upon the words and person of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.  Not a little bit of this commentary has been disconcerting, not only from those who would twist his words to fit a secular agenda, but also from those who are supposedly faithful but seem to want…

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Is the Barque of Peter Really Seaworthy?

During Pope Benedict XVI’s final general audience, he reflected on his pontificate in the context of the oft-used symbol of the Catholic Church as the Barque of Peter: I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and…

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