U.S.CATHOLIC NEWS - 01.07.2014

January 7, 2014

Inquiring popes want to know Seeking input on marriage and family life, Pope Francis has decided to consult the experts. If Pope Francis asked you whether divorced and remarried Catholics should be able to receive communion, what would you say? What if he asked you about the lesbian couple in the parish who sends their children to the local Catholic elementary school? Or about your son who is planning to marry his long-time girlfriend but in the meantime shares a condo and a dog with her? Read more. 15 years ago in U.S. Catholic: Let's not sleep through the millennium This piece from our January 1999 issue focuses on how we can recognize God's presence yesterday, today, and always going forward. Should the church make a big deal out of the millennium? I'm of two minds about that. Perhaps the following two stories can capture the split frame of mind I have as to whether we should go all out in celebration or if the millennium is much ado about nothing. Read more. Should laypeople have a role in choosing their bishops?  It's time for the flock to have their say when it comes to selecting the shepherds of the church.    Pope Francis says that he wants a special kind of bishop for our church--he wants "shepherds who smell of their sheep." Let us take our Holy Father at his word: Who knows how the sheep smell better than the sheep themselves? No one. So then why not let the sheep make a modest proposal and ask that we laypeople have a significant say in the choice of our bishops. Read more. What do you think? Should laypeople be consulted when new bishops are chosen? Or are the pope and other church leaders in a better position to pick shepherds for the flock? Be sure to take our survey and let us know what you think.    My favorite Francis quote: 'The glass magically gets bigger.'  If you think it's OK for the few to enjoy largesse while the masses suffer with next to nothing, then fine. But that ain't the gospel--at least not according to the pope.      I may be accused of having a pope-crush on Pope Francis, but the man keeps coming with delightful and surprising refreshingness. When asked in an interview about American critics who characterized his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as "Marxist," Francis both deflected the insult to Marxist and returned fire with a zinger of his own. Read more.   Watch: 12 Years A Slave   Directed by Steve McQueen (Fox Searchlight, 2013)   Idyllic sunsets, moss-covered trees, chirping birds--in Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, this backdrop is not a portrait of carefree Southern living, but rather the setting for an honest glimpse at the lifestyle that supported keeping human beings as property. The film is based on the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Apart from a few gray hairs that appear on Northup, there is little indication throughout of exactly how much of the titular block of time has passed, impressing upon viewers the ceaseless bondage of slavery. Read more.