God, thank you, for the gift of long friendship.
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Category: Pastoral Theology
Is the Sacrament of Penance Really Serving the Faithful?
I am hoping with this posting to open up further dialogue on a sacramental topic perhaps not critically examined enough for what it has become
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Female Altar Servers? Acolytes? East and West
One of the most debated liturgical practice and pastoral issues of our day is the opening of formal roles for women and girls in the liturgical assembly…
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The Female Diaconate: Issues East and West—Part 2
Does ordaining women to the diaconate automatically mean that women could be ordained to the Priesthood (i.e. the Presbyterate)?
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The Female Diaconate? Issues East and West
In the modern period, the question of ordaining women as deacons (again) in the Roman Catholic Church was raised as early as Vatican II, some fifty plus years ago. In the Orthodox world, this question is over a hundred years old…
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Newest Issue of Liturgy: Confession & Reconciliation
From my Introduction to the first issue of Liturgy for 2019, which I had the pleasure of guest-editing:
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At Forty Days—The Offering of a Child
“The churching of a child is an offering to God and the altar is the place where we make such offerings.”
Read moreLiturgy Concerning Suicide
Those who minister at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in central London have devised a liturgy for those affected by suicide or attempted suicide. A description of the
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My Little Big Day
Since I returned to Ireland in 2013 and reacquainted myself with the Church in the country of my birth, having departed to study for the
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Madam Secretary and Conversations in an Age of Mass Media
I have been pondering how artists may help to shape political and moral conversations in an age of mass media. About a week ago I
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