Weekly Summary: 5/23/26
The week in review, from the perspective of a veteran Catholic journalist
Don’t have time to read everything I post? I understand; it can be a lot.
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This week, for example:
Articles
The Vatican’s Synod office released a schedule for the 3-year “review process” of the Synod on Synodality. It’s a long, long document— not just in words— that focuses exclusively on the process of the Synod, without barely a glance at the substance. This process has already gone on for years, and with each passing year the process is a bit further removed from reality.
Pope Leo’s first encyclical, on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be released on Monday. It’s going to be a very important document, for three reasons. First, AI is going to change the way we live, for good or evil, and the moral implications are enormous. Second, the Pope is weighing in at the right time: early in the discussion, before people have fixed ideas. Third, this will be the first time that Pope Leo will be judged for what he says himself, not by comparison with Pope Francis. [Look for my analysis of the encyclical Monday night.]
Meanwhile the Vatican’s doctrinal office has taken on a different mission. In a recent speech Cardinal “Tucho” Fernandez criticized the earlier work of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict. Under new leadership, the office no longer makes doctrinal orthodoxy a top priority.
This week on the Home Front, Leila analyzes the controversial Supreme Court decision allowing (for now) continued mail-order distribution of the abortion pill. Then I explain why Pope Leo’s first encyclical, due out on Monday, will be unusually important— both for what it says about Artificial Intelligence and what it says about the Pope’s own plans.
Notes
A hat-tip to Diane Montagna for noticing that the Coptic Orthodox Church was ready to resume ecumenical dialogue with the Vatican. The Copts had broken off that dialogue after the release of Fiducia Supplicans. The resumption (announced later in the week), suggests that Pope Leo’s interpretation of the document reassured them.
A reading at morning Mass, in which St. Paul declares that he is “innocent of the blood of all you” because he told hard truths, made me wonder how many Catholic leaders, teachers, and even parents could say the same thing.
The German bishops’ conference is not— for now— moving ahead with its plan for a “synodal conference.” That suggests they’ve been feeling pressure from Rome under Pope Leo. But the Germans are still making plans for formal blessings of same-sex unions, despite mounting Vatican disapproval.
Cardinal Mario Grech, the head of the Vatican’s Synod office, stresses the need to welcome differences, to listen respectfully to all viewpoints. That’s not exactly what St. Paul taught. Or St. John. Or the Council of Trent.
“We are all post-Augustinians now,” wrote political theorist Ralph Hancock, commenting on how liberal Christianity tends to value the universal over the particular. But he was writing before an important public figure emerged on the world scene, quoting St. Augustine constantly. I wonder whether Pope Leo’s formation as an Augustinian monk will eventually clash with that liberal temptation.
Reflections on two obituaries: I mentioned the thorough decency of Robert Woodson, whose response to urban poverty was to encourage local community initiatives rather than massive federal programs. And something you definitely didn’t expect: my memories of playing touch football with Barney Frank, 50+ years ago.
Although Ed Condon of The Pillar disagrees with my analysis of the latest document from the Synod office, I hope I’m wrong and he’s right. He thinks Pope Leo has “quietly moved to clip the wings of the thing,” and the move away from the constant discussion of “synodality.” His analysis is definitely worth reading.