Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church.
Pope Francis’ visit concerns all Canadians. It’s about our relationship to history and the construction of a state that marginalized Indigenous people and tried to assimilate them.
Pope Francis and the Catholic Church must make a plan with Indigenous Peoples, not for us, in order to walk the path of reconciliation. Some initial suggestions of what a plan might include.
Many people do not realize they are delivering at a Catholic hospital, and others may not have a choice. But where one receives care has a profound impact on the birth control options they’re offered.
A scholar of constitutional law and American religious history explains how the abortion issue has been historically rooted in religious beliefs, giving a moral certainty that law cannot provide.
As a theologian who studies church apologies for historical wrongs, I understand why the Pope was moved to speak this week, but I hope this was not his definitive apology.
Malta’s St. George Preca was canonized in 2007. Pope Francis’ visit to Malta renewed attention on Preca’s life and work and how it could provide guidance for the welfare of refugees.
A German report accused retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling several cases of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here are a few of our related articles on the Catholic Church’s crisis.
Barcelona’s fabled basilica recently celebrated the completion of its first tower with a giant star. But as at every stage in its history, not everyone is pleased.
We tend to romanticise the Christmas season, that time of year when we gather with friends and family, feast and be merry. But for most of its history Christmas has been a time of sordid behaviour.
500 years after his death, we’re reflecting on the man who became a cardinal at just 13 – but he had made neither priest nor bishop before he was elected pope.
A papal apology, if done in ‘a good way,’ could help remove barriers to transforming harmful relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the Catholic Church.