Stephen P. White

Pope Benedict’s last act — his resignation — may turn out to be his greatest long-term legacy. As the demands of apostolic life increase, we may see more and more popes following Benedict’s example, and, when old age robs them of their strength, humbly stepping aside for the sake of the Church’s fundamental mission: spreading the Gospel.

The pope is not a figurehead; he is an apostle. He is not a manager; he is a messenger. By announcing his resignation yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI has signaled that the Church of the 21st-century will not be a Church of business as usual.

Pope Benedict’s news — that he will step aside as pontiff — is still being processed by a shocked world as prayers commence for the future shepherd of the world’s Catholics.

Citizens, not governments, are the true guarantors of freedom. And citizens who forget their obligations to the good of all only invite the loss of their own.

The virtues and vices of a people shape the laws as surely as the laws shape the character of a people. Those who would blame the Constitution for America's woes should not pretend that America could be what she is without it. For if America is on balance a good thing, then great deal of the credit must go to that remarkable law by which she is constituted.

Catholics who see the ordination of women — something the Church insists it has no authority to do — as the necessary condition of equality within the Church take an unjustly privileged view of the priestly office.

When it comes to solidarity, Paul Ryan and Pope Benedict XVI agree: Civil society is where it's at!

In Poland, they have a saying: A pessimist is someone who says, "Things can't possibly get any worse!" An optimist is someone who says, "Oh, yes they can!" Given our current circumstances, here are five reasons for optimism.

Today's Democrats are malleable on those moral issues where the Church is firm and they are rigid where the Church is open to debate. This spells trouble for the once-close alliance between Catholic voters and the Democratic Party.

It's been four years since then-Senator Obama's infamous "above my pay grade" remark in response to Pastor Rick Warren's question about human life. Everyone seems to remember Warren's question as "When does human life begin?" But that wasn't the question, and the answer (still) isn't above Obama's pay grade.

Two recent homilies, one by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and one by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, should remind us that, while political freedom — negative freedom, freedom from coercion — is not sufficient for human excellence, it is vitally important for true human freedom, which is always freedom for truth.

EPPC Fellow Stephen White appeared recently on the Diane Rehm Show (WAMU/NPR) to discuss the ongoing controversy involving the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.