doctrine

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Catholics see symbols and signals of unity, as Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy

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Catholics see symbols and signals of unity, as Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy

For more than 26 years, Pope John Paul II traveled the world with a silver pastoral staff topped with a dramatic, abstract crucifix crafted by the 20th-century artist Lello Scorzelli.

This symbol of papal ministry was first used by Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council finale and has been carried on occasion by subsequent popes. But, year after year, Mass after Mass, it became a powerful symbol of the life of John Paul II – now St. John Paul II – during the second longest papacy in history.

John Paul II used this staff during his inauguration Mass and so did Pope Leo XIV, during the May 18 rite that fell on the 105th anniversary of John Paul II's birth. The new pope also wore an iconic chasuble – the outer liturgical cloak – that is now considered a relic of St. John Paul II.

With the fisherman's ring and the lambswool pallium over his shoulders, these links to John Paul II helped Leo XIV stress the need for unity and core Catholic traditions.

"The Apostle Peter himself tells us that Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, and has become the cornerstone. Moreover, if the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him," Leo XIV told the flock of 150,000 assembled in St. Peter's Square.

"Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church. … This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world."

But Leo XIV faces painful challenges, even while calling for unity.

Raymond Arroyo of the Eternal Word Television Network, and Fox News, tweeted on X: "Pope Leo at his Inaugural Mass, in a subtle reference to his predecessor, says 'Peter (the Pope) must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat.' … He then pledged to be a source of unity."

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Pope Leo XIV will have to face the gospel according to his German bishops

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Pope Leo XIV will have to face the gospel according to his German bishops

The days after a pope's death are hectic and it's a hard time for Vatican officials to examine complex, controversial documents.

Nevertheless, the bishops of German – two days Pope Francis died on April 21 – announced guidelines for handling blessings for same-sex couples and other "irregular" relationships. The "Blessing gives strength to love" summary mentioned, with a nod to the Vatican, that these rites "should be designed in such a way that there is no confusion with the liturgical celebration of the sacrament of marriage."

The instructions, however, noted the need to consider a "couple's wishes" about the setting, choosing details "in a theologically meaningful way." Also, the "aesthetics, including music and singing, should express the appreciation of the people who ask for the blessing, their togetherness and their faith." Appropriate "biblical texts should be recited" and interpreted.

Blessing prayers should proclaim: "Those God blesses, upon whom he 'makes his face shine' " are blessed to thrive "under God's loving gaze."

Then, on May 2, a committee of German bishops and laity announced plans to discuss a text entitled "Respecting decisions of conscience in matters of birth control." On May 3, Bishop Georg Bätzing – chair of the German bishops' conference – voiced his full support for the ordination of women in Catholic ministry.

Welcome to the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV.

While outsiders have focused on the political impact of the 267th pope – an American who has served in Peru and Rome – insiders have searched the career of Robert Francis Prevost for hints as to how he will handle conflicts about Catholic worship and doctrine. Germany is ground zero.

"Both orthodox Catholics and modernists have been celebrating, while there have been naysayers on both sides, too," noted Vatican analyst Serre Verweij, writing for Rorate Caeli (Drop down, O heavens). "This reflects the fact Prevost was touted as a 'compromise candidate' and pushed by strong prelates on both sides. Both the orthodox and the modernists seem to think, or hope, that the new Pope actually leans more in their direction. … So, to put it crudely, the real question is: who got played?"

Texts – past and present – produced by Prevost are being analyzed and reanalyzed by his supporters and critics. 

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Pollsters need to start asking more detailed questions about American Catholic life

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Pollsters need to start asking more detailed questions about American Catholic life

Theology news rarely sends shock waves through Catholic offices around the world, but this headline did: "Just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church that Eucharist is body, blood of Christ."

The key word in that famous Pew Research Center survey was "transubstantiation," which the report defined as the belief that the "bread and wine used for Communion become the body and blood of Jesus Christ."

It mattered, of course, whether the Catholics in this survey went to Mass. Nearly 70% of self-proclaimed Catholics said the consecrated bread and wine were mere "symbols," but 63% of those who reported weekly Mass attendance affirmed transubstantiation. Insiders noted that this meant that 37% of observant Catholics didn't embrace this crucial church doctrine.

"Any effort to measure human behavior is fraught with peril and complications," noted John C. Green of the University of Akron, reached by telephone. A trailblazer in studies of politics, pulpits and pews, Green has often served as a Pew Research consultant.

"If people say they go to Mass once a week, how certain can you be that they're telling the truth? … When it comes to doing surveys about what believers say and what they do, you can never ask too many questions."

Now, as Catholics prepare for a new pope, Pew has released new insights into lines of tension and division among American Catholics. Five years after the "transubstantiation" study, a new survey includes more evidence that "U.S. Catholics" disagree with many core Catholic doctrines and, thus, want a "more inclusive" church.

The tricky question, again, was how to define "U.S. Catholic," since the survey said:

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Parsing the words of an emerging "pope able" cardinal from Jerusalem

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Parsing the words of an emerging "pope able" cardinal from Jerusalem

In the spring of 2023, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem addressed a conference about a dizzyingly complex subject – Christianity in the ancient Middle East, as well as the future of its many churches and traditions.

This included Catholic interactions with Judaism and Islam, as well as trends in a region shaped by "extreme secularism and religious fundamentalism," noted Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa (.pdf here). Also, he stressed that Catholic leaders must grasp that the faith of many believers "no longer has deep roots," even in ancient churches.

"Their Christianity … is often a Christianity of identity, of tradition," said Pizzaballa, who has served for decades in the Holy Land. "We can no longer be satisfied with the Sunday presence of our faithful. It no longer has the strength to counter the tsunami of globalized secularism, which enters, through the Internet or other forms, even in the Bedouin tents or in the most remote villages."

In some ways, the faith "identity" found in the fragile Middle East is stronger than in many Western cultures, he said. But it's no longer acceptable to say, "Well at least it's not like Europe!" and move on.

Later that year, Pope Francis elevated Pizzaballa into the College of Cardinals – the first cardinal residing in the modern State of Israel.

When the Latin Patriarch heard the Easter Monday news about the death of Pope Francis, he packed his bags. As he departed to Rome, his coworkers sang, in Arabic: "May the Lord guide your steps with His wisdom, fill your heart with His spirit, and be with you if it's His prayer that you should lead His church."

Since then, the cardinal's name has been included in almost every list – in secular and Catholic media – of "papabile," or "pope able" – candidates to fill the Chair of Saint Peter.

Thus, journalists and church insiders have dissected sermons and addresses by Pizzaballa and other popular "papabile," searching for clues about their stands on doctrine, worship and pastoral issues in the wake of the tumultuous Francis papacy. It doesn't hurt that the 60-year-old cardinal – that's young for a papabile – has a colorful name, which can be translated as "Peter the baptizer" plus "pizza dancer," as well as family ties to an Italian soccer star.

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A bridge between Ash Wednesday and Easter: Most Americans do not 'get' Lent

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A bridge between Ash Wednesday and Easter: Most Americans do not 'get' Lent

When it comes to pulling Catholics into pews, Christmas rites top the list – followed by a tie between Easter, the Christian calendar's most joyous day, and Ash Wednesday, which is the most sobering.

Last year, 51% of U.S. Catholics attended Mass on Easter, the same percentage as Ash Wednesday, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Christmas drew 68%.

The bridge between Ash Wednesday and Easter is the penitential season of Lent.

"Participating in Ash Wednesday which leaves a black cross on the forehead is one way for Catholics to identify themselves publicly and to express pride in their religious tradition," noted Father James J. Bacik, writing for the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. "It is also a way of indicating an intention to take Lent seriously."

Ash Wednesday services have, in recent decades, become common in some Protestant denominations. But what about Lent?

Lent is "not on the radar" for most Americans, according to a new Lifeway Research study focusing on Catholics, Protestants and the unchurched. One in four participants in the survey (26%) say they observe Lent, to one degree or another. That's lower than the 31% of Americans who claim to attend worship services weekly or almost weekly, according to 2023 polling by Gallup.

Most believers who observe Lent find their own ways to mark the season, with some form of the "give up one thing for Lent" pattern as the norm. It's hard to find evidence of ancient Christian patterns of fasting and abstinence in the survey results.

"Fasting is on the Christian liturgical calendar not unlike the Jewish Yom Kippur and Muslim Ramadan," noted Lifeway executive director Scott McConnell, in the organization's summary of the study. "For Christians attending non-liturgical churches, they may not even notice the season of Lent has arrived. It is not that they look down on the practices of fasting, prayer and charity. But if they participate, they may be exchanging additional time with God for other forms of self-denial."

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Why the "He Gets Us" ads continue to trigger debates about doctrine

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Why the "He Gets Us" ads continue to trigger debates about doctrine

There is nothing unusual about a photograph of two men embracing at a gay Pride march, surrounded by rainbow flags, banners and New Orleans-style beads.

But one of the men in this image from the latest "He Gets Us" Super Bowl advertisement is wearing a John 3:16 hat, as in the Bible verse proclaiming: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Many of the ad's photographs are easy to interpret, such as a man removing "GO BACK" graffiti from a home, a woman helping a weeping man in a grocery store, a firefighter hard at work and a young football player comforting a defeated opponent.

But the John 3:16 hat raised the theological stakes in the Pride photograph, noted Samuel D. James, an editor active in Christian publishing and founder of the Digital Liturgies website.

"It's obvious one of the goals of 'He Gets Us' is to cut across political and ideological divides," he wrote, at The Gospel Coalition website. "The writers know where the fault lines in American religious culture are – abortion, LGBT+, race, class and so on. And who could resist being moved by these images of human vulnerability and compassion? Who can push out of his or her mind the many moments in the Gospels where Jesus met such needs and taught his followers to do the same?"

The ads seek to create "curiosity about and sympathy for Jesus," he added, with a style targeting an "impressionistic, algorithmic generation." But there's logic behind the debates triggered by these advertisements. Their content is vague, since the "image-based, music-backed ads lack exposition or annotation; such things would only get in the way of the audience's emotional response."

The Pride scene resembles a photograph, in the 2024 Super Bowl ad, of a protester "washing the feet of a young woman outside of an abortion clinic," said James, reached by telephone. There's no way, for example, to know if the patient is entering or leaving the facility.

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Were there any religion-news events in 2024? It rather hard to say ....

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President Donald Trump is returning to the White House, convinced – after a close encounter with an assassin's bullet – that he had God on his side in the election.

While opinions differed on that theological question, Trump clearly drew strong support from voters that frequented pews. In Washington Post exit polls, he received 56% of the Catholic votes, while 41% backed Vice President Kamala Harris. In 2020, 52% of self-identified Catholics supported President Joe Biden, with 47% for Trump.

As always, Trump fared well with Protestants and "other Christians," with 62% supporting him, as opposed to 37% for Harris. She won 60% of the votes of non-Christian believers, while Trump had 33% – up 4% from his showing in 2020.

Thus, members of Religion News Association selected the 2024 presidential election as the year's top national religion story. The 2024 poll of religion-news professionals was dominated by analysis of national and international news, as opposed to specific headlines and events, with a strong emphasis on trends among religious conservatives.

But Trump's wins among religious believers – as well as gains among Latinos and Black men – were only one side of this drama, stressed Jessica Grose of the New York Times opinion staff.

Democrats should note the "large and growing religious group that is already in their corner: the Nones," she noted, referring to religiously unaffiliated Americans. "According to new data from the Public Religion Research Institute … 72 percent of the religiously unaffiliated voted for Kamala Harris. Melissa Deckman, the chief executive of P.R.R.I., shared a more granular breakdown of unaffiliated voters with me over email: 82 percent of atheists, 80 percent of agnostics and 64 percent of those who said they had no particular faith voted for Harris."

However, key voters rejected Democratic Party stands on many cultural and moral issues, noted Ruy Teixeira, a veteran Democrat strategist. In a Blueprint2024 survey, the top reason "swing" voters gave for rejecting Harris was that she seemed "more focused on transgender issues" than middle-class needs. Thus, one Trump ad proclaimed: "Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for YOU."

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Which candidate did Hell endorse? That isn't the real question facing believers right now

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Which candidate did Hell endorse? That isn't the real question facing believers right now

Forget the opinions of newspaper czars, the question many voters needed to know in this feverish White House race was simple: Who did Hell endorse?

Writing in the style "The Screwtape Letters" by Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, in which a veteran tempter lectures lesser demons, Dominick Baruffi didn't answer that question. But his satirical lecture by the Infernal National Convention chairman "Gurtfoot" stressed that this year's options were truly hellish.

"Almost everything said in front of a camera is said for the purposes of being seen while saying it, and any policy has become entirely secondary to their celebrity," wrote Baruffi, a Westminster Theological Seminary graduate who works as a counselor for troubled children.

His demon "Gurtfoot" added: "What are the humans to do but either spend their time quarreling over choosing 'the lesser of two evils' or permit themselves to drift into apathy and ignorance? Of course, both are perfectly acceptable outcomes in our eyes. … If we can continue to produce candidates such as these two halfwits in the years to come our victory is all but assured."

But the main goal of the "Screwtape Endorses a Candidate" essay was not to slam the Republican and Democratic candidates. Instead, Baruffi focused on an issue discussed by insiders – whether the acid of recent elections has warped how Christians view politics.

With President Donald Trump returning to the White House, progressive religious leaders will feel an immediate stab of disappointment. But believers on the left and right will soon have to face the fact that compromises are painful in a bitterly divided nation.

Thus, Baruffi's proud tempter noted: "The modern man now sees politics as repugnant, wholly undesirable and certainly unable to be discussed reasonably with others. …This is a great victory for our kind. The less the humans are made to think of the IDEA of politics, the more isolated and fractured they become, thus making them more vulnerable to our advances."

If millions of believers choose to flee politics, that will be tragic.

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When a Doritos chip becomes a meme: Progressive take on Holy Communion?

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When a Doritos chip becomes a meme: Progressive take on Holy Communion?

On election night in 2016, an event offering pain as well as triumph, Kamala Harris dug into a big bag of salty snack-food consolation.

"It was incredibly bittersweet. When I took the stage for my acceptance speech – to represent California in the Senate – I tore up my notes. I just said, 'We will fight,' " said Vice President Harris in a fundraising letter for her White House campaign.

"Then I went home, and I sat on the couch with a family-sized bag of nacho Doritos. I did not share one chip with anybody. ... Two things are true eight years later: I still love Doritos and we still have not stopped fighting."

Thus, in her campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump – whose 2016 victory angered her – the Harris team has used Doritos as a symbol of the feisty, combative side of her personality.

Thus, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently made waves with a social-media clip in which she placed a Dorito on the tongue of podcaster Liz Plank, a popular online "influencer" and MSNBC contributor.

Many Catholics cried "foul," since Plank was kneeling and appeared to be imitating the posture of a believer receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion. After the video went viral, defenders of Whitmer and Plank said they were merely offering their take on a TikTok meme in which someone feeds food to a friend, and then awkwardly stares into the camera.

It didn't help that the full version of the video – produced for Plank's "feministabulous" Instagram page – also focused on debates about abortion rights. In the past, Plank has called faith-based crisis-pregnancy centers "fake clinics."

The president of the Michigan Catholic Conference was not amused.