Fr. Robert Imbelli, Author at Crux

On liturgy, ignore the Ultramontanists of both left and right
- Commentary
- August 26, 2017
Pope Francis this week delivered an important address on liturgy, which was pounced on by the emerging Ultramontanists of the left — among other things, because it doesn’t cite Benedict XVI. But to see it through the lens of one’s political biases misses the real point, which is a call to discernment about how successful the liturgical reform actually has been.
READ MORE
How Pope’s imagery on critical care can overlook long-term rehab
- Commentary
- July 24, 2017
Pope Francis’s famous image of the Church as a “field hospital” is so often invoked that it’s easy to forget that a field hospital is about critical care, not long-term recovery. For that, the Church also needs places where the Christian life can be nourished and deepened — a role the new movements play well, when they overcome their tendency for in-fighting.
READ MORE
Benedict XVI at 90: Why his theology still matters
- Commentary
- April 16, 2017
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI turns 90 on April 16, Easter Sunday. Father Robert Imbelli takes a closer look at the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, and how for him the central fact of the Resurrection is Jesus Christ does not rise a disembodied soul, but bodily. Body not self-contained, but totally relational, totally gift, really present in Eucharist, poured out to embrace a humanity called to transfiguration.
READ MORE

The unraveling of Catholicism’s rich sacramental tapestry

Father Robert Imbelli wonders whether the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, after fifty years of checkered reception, has resulted in a new Pentecost or a new Babel. He ponders whether the idea and practice of sacramental Catholicism has been discarded by some to the detriment of many.

Ascension isn’t Jesus ‘on sabbatical’ until Second Coming

Church

May 5, 2016

One of the great achievements of the liturgical movement in the twentieth century was the recovery of the centrality of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ for Christian life, thought, and practice. Certainly, the restoration of the Easter Triduum in the 1950s played a key role in the renewed realization