Catholic Studies publication

No one ever heard a dreadful homily from Pope Benedict XVI, the greatest papal preacher since Gregory the Great.

Today, Rome is uniquely orphaned. Dioceses around the world still have their local bishops. But the Universal Pastor of the Church is Rome’s local bishop, and when the Chair of Peter is empty, Rome is empty. And you can feel it.

What can be changed in the Church must be changed, if mission-effectiveness demands it. What cannot be changed in the Church, because it is of the constitutional “form” of the Church, must be purified and reformed so that it may make its proper contribution to the mission.

George Weigel remembers William F. Buckley — who died five years ago, today — as part of an NRO Symposium.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor-at-large for National Review Online, interviewed EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow, George Weigel, about his new book — Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church — and the challenges of reforming the Vatican which the next pope will face.

EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow, George Wegiel, recently spoke with Joan Frawley Desmond of the National Catholic Register about his new book, Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Cetury Church and what we might expect from the next pope.

At his election in 2005, some thought of him as a papal place-keeper: a man who would keep the Chair of Peter warm for a few years until a younger papal candidate emerged. In many other ways, and most recently by his remarkably self-effacing decision to abdicate, Joseph Ratzinger proved himself a man of surprises.

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 gestation of the Church being born today—the Church of the New Evangelization—began in 1878, when Pope Leo XIII was elected.

What kind of man can be a pope for the 21st-Century? A radically converted Christian disciple who believes that Jesus Christ really is the answer to the question that is every human life.

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.