Vatican II
The Catholic Church’s moral reckoning on Jews and the Holocaust
By Ken Jacobson — January 26, 2021
(RNS) — The evolution of church teaching has been transformative in Christian (not just Catholic) attitudes toward Jews.
Pope Francis opens a small but significant door for women in the Church
By Claire Giangravé — January 11, 2021
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The pope made clear, however, that the change is not a step toward women's ordination.
55 years ago, a cardinal’s ‘special reverence’ for the Jews redeemed ‘Nostra Aetate’
By A. James Rudin — October 28, 2020
(RNS) — The proclamation sparked a systematic effort by the Catholic Church to transform its past bitter relationships with Jews and Judaism.
In popes’ traditional summer retreat, locals move on without Francis
By Claire Giangravé — August 14, 2020
(RNS) — In the years since Francis decided he'd stay in Rome, locals have been forced to reenvision Castel Gandolfo without the glamour — and revenue — the papal visits brought them.
How the infamous Oberammergau Passion Play is evolving
By Noam E. Marans — November 21, 2019
(RNS) — For the past three decades, the most heinous anti-Jewish excesses of the world's most famous Passion play have been slowly eliminated, but more work needs to be done.
Sister Helen Prejean on new book, getting rid of death penalty and getting Jesus ‘right’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 20, 2019
(RNS) — Sister Helen Prejean talked to Religion News Service about how she became involved in social justice, why she thinks the death penalty is on its way out and how she got to 'bump into two popes along the way.'
The Catholic Church’s US seminaries need reform
By Thomas Reese — February 12, 2019
(RNS) — The formation of a Catholic priest should be challenging intellectually but should also teach him how to empower the people in his parish.
How a group of California nuns challenged the Catholic Church
By Diane Winston — December 7, 2017
(The Conversation) — California in the 1960s was the epicenter for spiritual experimentation. And among those looking for personal and social transformation, the unlikeliest seekers may have been a small community of Roman Catholic religious: the Immaculate Heart Sisters.
Latin Mass fans celebrate 10-year anniversary, without pope
By Nicole Winfield — September 14, 2017
(AP) — In recent weeks, he has affirmed with 'magisterial authority' that the reforms of the 1960s allowing for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin were 'irreversible.'
Pope rails against attempts to restore old-style Catholic worship
By Christopher Lamb — August 25, 2017
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — It’s not every day that Pope Francis chooses to invoke the full weight of his office. But when it comes to the furious internal rows over Catholic worship, he’s decided enough is enough.
Catholics shouldn’t try to convert Jews, says new Vatican document
By Rosie Scammell — December 10, 2015
(RNS) One expert calls it the first time active conversion of Jews was so clearly repudiated in a Vatican document.
Sister Joan Chittister, the dissident nun, shares her secret life
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — October 26, 2015
She was an abused and terrified child who grew up to challenge her church, a new biography reveals. Yet this maverick sister and writer is a traditionalist -- in her own way.
GUEST COMMENTARY: The Vatican’s strong defense of the Jews
By Philip A. Cunningham — January 28, 2013
(RNS) The head of a schismatic traditionalists recently labeled Jews ``enemies of the Church.'' And while that statement could have sparked an interfaith crisis, it's instead motivated Catholic leaders to directly repudiate him with strongly worded pledges of friendship with Jews.
Four priests, four friends: Bishops witness historic changes in Catholic life
By Peggy Fletcher Stack — January 9, 2013
(RNS) Released from the Catholic cocoon of seminary in 1962, the four young priests faced a church on the brink of volcanic reform with the opening of the Second Vatican Council. After being schooled in a Vatican I church, the foursome would step down as powerful American prelates, five decades later, as quintessential Vatican II men. By Peggy Fletcher Stack.
Vatican II: The beginning of the end of Catholic anti-Semitism
By A. James Rudin — October 25, 2012
(RNS) In the 50 years since the Second Vatican Council, much has been accomplished in building a new relationship between Catholics and Jews. What Pope John XXIII began in 1962 represented the beginning of the end of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism within the Catholic Church. By A. James Rudin.
