All Things Catholic Archives

Three ironies about a dramatic show of papal muscle in Nigeria
- All Things Catholic, Analysis
- June 11, 2017
At the popular level, Pope Francis often is perceived as a lovey-dovey man of dialogue and peace. However, beneath that surface still beats the heart of a classic Jesuit superior, and a dramatic show of papal muscle in Nigeria this week confirms that when the time comes for obedience, he fully and completely expects to get it.
READ MORE
Despite it all, Francis and Trump may just hit it off
- All Things Catholic, Analysis, Pope/Trump
- May 7, 2017
When President Donald Trump and Pope Francis meet in the Vatican on May 24, in many ways it will be a study in contrasts — Francis the man of simplicity and humility, Trump an icon of bombast. Yet the two figures actually share a surprising number of traits, all of which suggest that perhaps they can hit it off despite all the ways in which they seem to be from different planets.
READ MORE
How a clown could help the pope engage today’s populist tide
- All Things Catholic, Analysis, Global Church
- December 3, 2016
Italy’s “Cinque Stelle” movement is the country’s most significant opposition force, and could be on its way to power. Were Pope Francis to take a direct role in engaging it, Cinque Stelle could become his nose under the tent amid today’s wave of populist anti-establishment politics.
READ MORE

Two hints something’s stirring on anti-Christian persecution

“Christians [in the Middle East] are hit by war, and because they are Christians,” said Bence Rétvári, Hungary’s Vice Minister for Human Capacities. “We’re like a brother who sees that his sister’s house is on fire, and we need to go put out the fire and then help rebuild the house.”

Measuring the jubilee not with numbers, but the quality of mercy

Given the aspirations Pope Francis had for the year, the usual measures of success or failure arguably miss the mark. Unlike other jubilees, this one had the specific theme of mercy. The real test, therefore, probably should be whether the Church and the world are more merciful, or at least more prone to consider the case for mercy, than before.

On the brink of a ‘Filipino moment,’ it’s up for grabs

On any list of the most consequential Catholic nations, the Philippines would easily finish in the top five, and there’s a good case to be made that it’s #1. Today, the Catholic Church in the Philippines is in crisis, driven by polarized responses to new President Rodrigo Duterte.