As certain factions of the church who want to claim Leo for their “side” become increasingly anxious to see him start taking more decisive action on thorny issues, it’s clear that what we know most about him is that he is a disciple of Jesus Christ.

While the act of directly causing an abortion is a canonical crime that is punished with an automatic excommunication, (see Canon 1397, 2) this only applies in scenarios where a particular individual actually brought about an abortion personally — and not in situations where a person promoted abortion in a more abstract way.

Father Strassburger reminded me that the “Christian story doesn’t end with the cross. It ends with the Resurrection.”

Our faith teaches us to seek peace instead of power and to persevere in that effort instead of giving in to posturing. That demands that we acknowledge the evil that all weapons of mass destruction make possible.

When we argue that Mary, as the Ark of the New Covenant, would have been spared the stain of original sin, the knowledge that Christ not only availed himself of her flesh, but would continually reside therein, only further supports that well reasoned belief.

As Pope Leo XIV lifts the host during the Consecration, you can see his eyes filling up. He swallows, and he seems to be holding back tears.

The feast of the Assumption, possibly the oldest celebration of the Virgin Mary, is rooted in the tradition of Christian practice, supported by magisterial teaching and defined as one of four Marian dogmas.

Throughout the Old Testament the prophecies of Christ the Lord come to us through individuals, signs and symbols. The prophecies of Mary his mother, the apostles and the church, as well as the sacraments, are all hidden there.

These days, public opinion is usually formed by the media in all its forms, and any negative portrayal of migration issues seems to affect public opinion in a special way.

The church does have material needs that arise in the course of her spiritual mission. And so it is not simony to accept or request donations on the occasion of the celebration of the sacraments, as long as it is understood that such a donation is truly a free-will offering and not a condition for the sacrament’s administration.