Catholics

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Memory eternal, John L. Allen, Jr. -- Catholic journalist and a journalist who was Catholic

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Memory eternal, John L. Allen, Jr. -- Catholic journalist and a journalist who was Catholic

The Boston Globe headline was blunt: "Church allowed abuse by priest for years."

This massive investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, forcing major newsrooms to cover a scandal that had festered for decades. The shockwaves continued in Boston and, more than a decade later, The Globe began a website -- Crux (Latin for "cross") -- to cover Catholic news.

Reporter John L. Allen, Jr., was a pivotal figure in that project, since he was already an established expert on all the roads that lead to Rome. However, Crux quickly showed that the news was there, the readers were there, but the dollars didn't add up -- yet.

Allen got the green light to create an independent Crux, which launched on April 1, 2016. The question was whether he could build a coalition of donors and organizations -- the Knights of Columbus, for example -- that would support real journalism.

Truth is, the "people on the other side of the deal have to believe in what you are doing and see the wisdom of becoming part of your brand," Allen told me at that time, via telephone from Rome. "Your partners also have to be smart enough to realize that a key part of your brand is that you are seen -- by your readers -- as being truly independent."

The bottom line: Allen was a journalist who was a Catholic and an active Catholic who was a real journalist and he fought to balance that equation, in his daily reporting, his 11 books and his commentary for CNN, CBS and others. His death on January 22, after a long battle with cancer, left a strategic hole in Catholic life. His funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday (January 26) at the Basilica of Sant'Eugenio in Rome. He was 61.

When describing the "brand" he wanted, Allen stressed this word -- "balance." In an early update to Crux 2.0 readers, he wrote: "We’re unambiguously committed to the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church. We believe the Church, for all of its undeniable failures and challenges, is fundamentally a force for good in the world. …

"We also believe deeply in that famous line from Chesterton: 'Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground.' … My personal definition of success will be if, over the long haul, smart readers have a hard time saying whether they find us 'liberal' or 'conservative.'"

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Concerning Pope Leo XIV, religious freedom and the legacy of George Orwell

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Concerning Pope Leo XIV, religious freedom and the legacy of George Orwell

After a year in which 8 million Christians faced persecution, activists with the Netherlands-based Open Door network released a report claiming that 3,490 Christians were killed in Nigeria, out of 4,849 worldwide.

While the Holy See has remained cautious on this issue, Pope Leo XIV made his concerns clear when facing the Vatican diplomatic corps.

"It cannot be overlooked that the persecution of Christians remains one of the most widespread human rights crises today," he said, in a January 9 address. "This phenomenon impinges on approximately one in seven Christians globally. … Sadly, all of this demonstrates that religious freedom is considered in many contexts more as a 'privilege' or concession than a fundamental human right.

"Here, I would especially call to mind the many victims of violence, including religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, in the Sahel region and in Nigeria, as well as those of the serious terrorist attack last June on the parish of Saint Elias in Damascus."

In a wide-ranging address that avoided criticizing specific governments, Pope Leo linked Catholic moral teachings to the rights of migrants, prisoners, noncombatants, the poor and the unborn, while also opposing what he called "a diplomacy based on force." He bluntly warned: "War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading."

The pope also addressed forms of discrimination and even persecution based on efforts to undercut core human rights, such as religious liberty and freedom of speech. This is even happening, he said, in countries where Christians "are in the majority, such as in Europe or the Americas," where believers are "sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons."

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2025 headlines: The year of Pope Leo XIV and immigration fights with Donald Trump

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2025 headlines: The year of Pope Leo XIV and immigration fights with Donald Trump

On Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV left few doubts about the issue he wanted listeners to ponder during this symbolic event early in his papacy.

"The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts," he said, in the June 8 sermon. He later added, "The Spirit also opens borders in our relationship with others," thus "opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters, overcoming our rigidity, moving beyond our fear of those who are different."

Finally, he stressed: "The Spirit also opens borders between peoples. …Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for 'security' zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms."

For members of the Religion News Association, this was the kind of dramatic appeal that made the Chicago native the top Religion Newsmaker of 2025. The runner-up was Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who was elected as New York City's first Muslim mayor. The assassinated evangelical activist Charlie Kirk placed third.

The top U.S. religion news story was a tie between the papal election and ongoing debates about President Donald Trump and immigration. The poll stressed the White House call for "sweeping deportations of immigrants lacking legal status. … Catholic bishops and other faith-based groups protest and report parishioners avoiding worship for fear of arrest."

The rise of Pope Leo XIV was the top 2025 international religion story, with the death of Pope Francis finishing second.

In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelming approved a statement rejecting "a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants." They condemned the "indiscriminate mass deportation of people."

While backing the U.S. bishops, Pope Leo told journalists outside Castel Gandolfo: "No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter." Still, he criticized what he called "extremely disrespectful" or "inhuman" treatment of long-term immigrants who are living productive lives.

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Stalking all of those fake C.S. Lewis quotes online (and the new AI pope)

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Stalking all of those fake C.S. Lewis quotes online (and the new AI pope)

Late in the movie "Shadowlands," the C.S. Lewis character describes the role that books can play in real life.

The famous Oxford don and author, played by Anthony Hopkins, notes: "We read books to know that we are not alone."

Lewis never wrote those memorable words -- they came from screenwriter William Nicholson, noted William O'Flaherty, author of "The Misquotable C.S. Lewis: What He Didn't Say, What He Actually Said, and Why It Matters." Nevertheless, that quote is frequently attributed to Lewis on websites and in social media.

Further complicating matters, "the movie character Lewis -- when he does say it, while the real Lewis never said it -- is quoting a student who is saying that his father said it," noted O'Flaherty, via Zoom. Many who spread this quote appear to want people to "think the real Lewis went around repeating things from others" while taking credit for them.

It doesn't help that many readers who circulate fake Lewis quotes do so because they admire the author's Christian faith expressed in 30-plus books -- fiction and nonfiction -- which sell millions of copies a year, long after his death in 1963.

Lewis is not an isolated case. In his book, O'Flaherty noted that Albert Einstein never said, "God does not play dice," Mark Twain didn't proclaim "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics" and Ernest Hemingway "never claimed he could write a short story with just six words." Conan Doyle never had Sherlock Holmes say "Elementary, my dear Watson."

The basic problem: "Too many people have a bumper sticker attention span. And typically, they love quotes because quotes give them the 'sound bite' that confirms something they ALREADY believe."

In the past, some readers simply "misremembered" quotes they heard in lectures, sermons and speeches and passed them on. Misquotes have even appeared in books or major periodicals. With some authors, movies and television based on their writings have added to the confusion. Finally, issues with misquotes kicked into high gear with the Internet and powerful social-media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X. How will AI affect all of this?

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Why Christians in today's marketplace need Advent music playlists

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Why Christians in today's marketplace need Advent music playlists

"O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" is a perfect Lutheran hymn for the weeks before Christmas, but shoppers will never hear it between Muzak versions of "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas" in their local malls.

The key is that "O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" is from the penitential season of Advent, said Pastor Will Weedon. That's the four weeks preceding Christmas in liturgical calendars for Catholics, Lutherans and others in Western Christianity.

The Christmas connection is clear, stressed Weedon, with lines such as: "O Lord, how shall I meet You / How welcome You aright? /Your people long to greet You / My hope, my heart's delight! / O kindle, Lord most holy / Your lamp within my breast / To do in spirit lowly / All that may please You best."

The hymn contains this confession: "I lay in fetters, groaning / You came to set me free / I stood, my shame bemoaning / You came to honor me."

"We need to hear this as we prepare for Christmas," said Weedon, former director of worship and chaplain for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. "Advent hymns have about them a sense of dissatisfaction with our lives in this world. …

"We have a mess on our hands, some of it of our own making, and we're praying for Christ to come and save us," he said, reached by telephone. That message "doesn't work at Walmart, where Christmas starts at Halloween. Our culture doesn't understand the idea of fasting before feasting. We are urged to party and feast all the time."

Collections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in Protestant services and even in Christmas parties, such as "Joy to the World," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and, especially, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Many Catholic Advent hymns focus on the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, such as "Rorate Caeli (Drop down, ye Heavens."

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Are the massacres in Nigeria "old news"? Not to the pastors who bury the dead

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Are the massacres in Nigeria "old news"? Not to the pastors who bury the dead

The Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo had every reason to be emotional as he stood in a shallow grave containing the corpses of 11 members of his Church of Christ in Nations congregation in Rachas village, located in central Nigeria.

"I am tired of mass burials! … Nigerian government came out and openly denied -- there is no massacre. There is no genocide of Christians in Nigeria and look at it today," he shouted, gesturing toward to machete-slashed bodies around him. "United Nations, I know you are watching me! American Senate, you are watching what I am doing! Special advisor to Trump, now, please, tell Trump to save our lives in Nigeria!"

The pastor's mid-October Facebook video went viral, joining years of social-media messages from Catholic, Protestant and secular human-rights activists responding to raids by armed Boko Haram and Fulani insurgents. Many of the attacks occur at Easter, Christmas and other holy days.

Responding to pleas from Republicans in Congress and religious conservatives, President Donald Trump sent this warning, via his Truth Social platform.

"If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may very well go into that now disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," warned Trump. "If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!"

During his first White House administration, Trump designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for tolerating religious freedom violations against Christians -- a stance dropped by President Joe Biden in 2021. Now, Trump has restored that designation, in part responding to appeals by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"Nigeria is the most dangerous nation on Earth to follow Christ," said a statement from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart and Legislative Branch Subcommittee Vice Chair Riley Moore.

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Southern humorist's memories: Halloween in the Bible Belt is a whole different thing

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Southern humorist's memories: Halloween in the Bible Belt is a whole different thing

In the first act of the Judgement House drama, actors gathered for a raucous teen party with lots of booze.

In the second scene at the born-again haunted house, the young Matt Mitchell and other kids saw a DUI car crash, with dead teens surrounded by ambulance lights, police and loud sirens. The third room was Hell, a dark, cramped, basement room with the heat set on stun.

This morality tale was rather blunt. But, for Mitchell, the scariest moment took place in Heaven -- the church gym decorated with fluffy white curtains, the bright light of eternity and Jesus descending on a scissor lift from a construction site.

The man dressed as Jesus got off the lift and "he went around the room whispering into everyone's ear, individually," recalled Mitchell, in "Southern Halloween is … Different," a feature on his YouTube channel dedicated to deep-fried culture, food and humor.

"When he got to me, he said, 'I'll see you one day.' But I thought he said, 'I'll see you MONDAY.' Yeah, not a fun weekend. Even less of a fun Monday. … So, happy Halloween, y'all. Watch out for Jesus on a scissor lift."

Obviously, there's Halloween and then there's Bible Belt Halloween.

Modern Halloween is complicated. Old-fashioned Halloween still exists, with costumed children going door-to-door seeking candy. But on some suburban streets, many homes are now buried in intense lights, spiderwebs and armies of devils, demons and skeletons, like a spooky competitor with the December holidays.

Mitchell, a seventh-generation Alabamian, grew up Baptist and remains active in a Baptist congregation. Today, he said, it appears that the "hell" house era -- with its Off Broadway meets Bible camp vibe -- has run its course. What started as evangelism "kind of went wild and turned into theatrics and less about the Gospel. ... The wheels came off."

However, lots of Southern believers still consider Halloween a "celebration of all things evil" and thus, strive the avoid the holiday -- sort of, noted Mitchell, reached by Zoom.

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When pope's hold quick gaggles with reporters, strange things can happen

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When pope's hold quick gaggles with reporters, strange things can happen

As Pope Leo XIV left his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, a circle of reporters pressed forward.

Early in his pontificate, Leo has been cautious with the press. But after some comments in Italian, he agreed to "one question" from the EWTN network. It focused on Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich's decision to honor U.S. Senator Dick Durbin with a lifetime achievement award.

The problem: Durbin consistently backs abortion rights and remains barred from receiving Holy Communion in Springfield, Illinois, his home diocese. The senator has since declined the honor.

In English, Leo stressed looking at a politician's "overall work." The Chicago-born pope added: "Someone who says, 'I am against abortion,' but says, 'I am in favor of the death penalty' is not really pro-life. Someone who says that 'I am against abortion, but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life. So, they're very complex issues."

What happened next was totally predictable.

"The Catholic right has been divided between those inclined to try to explain away the pope's language, and those insisting he was just flat wrong," wrote Crux editor John L. Allen, Jr. "The American Catholic left, meanwhile, has been gripped by a paroxysm of delight."

It's one thing that didn't happen -- with "all the polarization in social media, instant news and even fake news" -- was a clear statement by Pope Leo XIV about these complex doctrinal issues, said Amy Welborn, a popular Catholic blogger since 2001.

"Popes should not do press conferences or drive-by press gaggles – never, ever," she said, reached by telephone. In fact, popes should avoid all hasty statements on politics and public events. It would be safer for Leo to discuss his tennis game, she added.

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Parsing Pope Leo XIV: Journalists, Catholic insiders trying to read between the lines

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Parsing Pope Leo XIV: Journalists, Catholic insiders trying to read between the lines

Early in the Mass, the priest -- chanting in Latin -- leads the congregation into a prayer of repentance.

The faithful respond: "Confíteor Deo omnipotenti et vobis, fratres, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, opere et omission," which in English is, "I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do."

Then everyone adds: "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" -- "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."

This Mass is in Latin, but it's the basic Latin text for the Vatican II Novus Ordo (.pdf here), noted Pope Leo XIV, in lengthy interviews with Elise Ann Allen of Crux.

A big issue in current conflicts, he said, is that "people always say 'the Latin Mass.' Well, you can say Mass in Latin right now. If it's the Vatican II rite there's no problem. Obviously, between the Tridentine Mass and the Vatican II Mass … I'm not sure where that's going to go."

It doesn't help, the pope added, when Catholics witness "abuse" of the Novus Ordo. This offends those "looking for a deeper experience of prayer, of contact with the mystery of faith that they seemed to find in the celebration of the Tridentine Mass. Again, we've become polarized, so that instead of being able to say, well, if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that experience?"

Pope Leo's call for celebrating the "Vatican II liturgy in a proper way" -- including Latin -- will "strike at least some American Catholics as either pointedly ironic or frustratingly hypothetical, given the number of bishops who have restricted 'traditional' celebrations of the ordinary form, even those 'proper' according to the rubrics," noted Ed Condon, editor of The Pillar, in a recent online essay.

If the goal is to heal "polarization around the liturgy," the pope needs to describe "proper" ways to celebrate the Novus Ordo, Condon added. But it "remains to be seen if those bishops who have clamped down on ordinary liturgical practices, or taken a relaxed view of liturgical abuses, will feel moved to revisit their positions in the light of the pope's words -- or if the pope will do anything to actively encourage them to do so."