Extra pauperes nulla salus – the wisdom today is a quotation from Jesuit theologian Jon Sobrino: “Outside the poor, there is no salvation.” A benefit of AUSCP membership is access to La Croix International, where you will find an article about Pope John Paul II and liberation theology and other items. We offer this week a collection of articles regarding “the Polish pope” from various viewpoints. As you read them or pass over them, consider the sources as you consider the contents. But news about Pope Francis is first.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis makes a surprise first appearance at the Vatican after his hospital stay. The story from Reuters.
The pope’s surprise appearance “represents a message full of meaning,” writes Andrea Tornielli at Vatican News. “Even in the time of virtual reality, in the time when we believe we can participate in everything from behind a computer screen, being physically present is very important.”
OPINION: A close call. Just when it looked like the anti-Francis forces would have their chance to “fix” the Catholic Church, Pope Francis left Gemelli Hospital. “It was a close call, but Francis’ reforms will outlast him.” By Phyllis Zagano, in National Catholic Reporter.
Daily updates about the pope’s health and activity are available at Vatican News.
Theodore McCarrick dead at 94
Theodore McCarrick, a once-powerful Catholic cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children, has died. He was 94. News from the Associated Press.
Life history from Wikipedia. Theodore Edgar McCarrick (July 7, 1930 – April 3, 2025) was an American Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal who was Archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000 and Archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. In 2019, McCarrick was laicized after being convicted of sexual misconduct in a canonical trial.
Twentieth Anniversary: Death of John Paul II
Liberation Theology. Theologian Luis Martinez-Saavedra reflects on the Polish pope’s often ambiguous relationship with the Latin American Church and liberation theology. Liberation theology is evolving — adopting new language and addressing new issues, theology of religious pluralism, feminist theology, and ecological liberation theology — one that sides with the poor and suffering. From La Croix International.
John Paul II’s prophecy of peace. A Vatican News article celebrates the saint and recalls his unheeded words against war.
Theology of the Body. Another item from La Croix International offers an exclusive interview with Philippe Bordeyne, president of the Rome-based John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences
COMMENTARY from the National Catholic Register. Though he died 20 years ago, John Paul remains a pope of the future.
St. John Paul II’s legacy. His 26 years of an extraordinary pontificate deeply marked an entire generation of Catholics. Still present, though in a more muted way, his legacy is now being seriously reexamined in light of revelations about sexual abuse in the church. From La Croix International.
COMMENTARY from the National Catholic Register. Why many think he should be officially named John Paul “the Great.”
John Paul II’s ‘New Feminism.’ With a new generation of young Catholic women attempting to navigate a society increasingly marked by both radical feminism on the one hand and a reactionary ‘manosphere’ on the other, it’s a debate in which the stakes are also undeniably high. From National Catholic Register.
Documents of Pope John Paul II. From the Vatican, a link provides access to encyclicals, travels, letters, almost anything anyone could want to know from the official source of papal information.
Care for Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope”
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced the theme chosen by Pope Francis April 7 for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, which will be celebrated Sept. 1. The metaphor of the seed, it added, “indicates the need for long-term commitment.” From National Catholic Reporter.
ANALYSIS: ‘We need a theology of abundance’
Daniel P. Horan’s analysis leads to a conclusion: “The scarcity mindset is governed by fear and self-interest, but a theology of abundance more closely aligns with the life, ministry and preaching of Jesus Christ in the Gospels.” From National Catholic Reporter.
Controversy about a graduation speaker
Former Irish president Mary McAleese, who voted for the successful 2018 repeal of a right-to-life provision in Ireland’s constitution, will receive an honorary degree at the all-women college’s commencement on May 17. The National Catholic Register reports on the reaction.
The war on empathy
ANALYSIS by Alan Bean, published by Baptist News Global. Joe Rigney’s “war on empathy began shortly after George Floyd was murdered a few blocks from the campus of Bethlehem Seminary. Appearing on the first episode of Doug Wilson’s “Man Rampant” podcast, Rigney laid out the Christian case against empathy.”
A Forgotten Martyrdom and a Call for Human Fraternity
COMMENTARY: “This Easter, let us recall the 30 Ethiopian Orthodox martyrs and the tenuous, painful and yet real progress made against the ideological underpinning of anti-Christian hate.” Published in the National Catholic Register.
The gospel according to Cory Booker
OPINION by Hannah Brown, at Baptist News Global. “If you’ve turned on the news in [recent] days or scrolled through social media, you’ve heard the name Cory Booker. He’s the senator from New Jersey who just broke the 68-year-old record for the longest speech in U.S. Senate history by standing on the Senate floor for just more than 25 hours. And it was downright biblical.”
At the southern border
Sisters support migrants in need through nonprofit Border Compassion. From National Catholic Reporter.
Follow-up: On March 21, the Trump Administration essentially ended funding for legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children, a move the Catholic Legal Immigration Network said would affect about 26,000 children who may have to represent themselves in immigration court. An update, reported by Dan Stockman and Brian Roewe in the National Catholic Reporter.
Hands Off! protesters explain diverse views
Jamie, 49, held a sign that said, “Jesus chose crucifixion over political power.” She said evangelical leaders have joined forces with oligarchs for the sake of power. “They have weaponized abortion in response to (losing the battle to maintain racial) segregation.” See what other views were expressed, as reported by Baptist News Global.
EDITORIAL from National Catholic Reporter
The tax battle is a referendum on moral clarity. The U.S. Senate “met into the early hours of April 5 to pass a heartless budget framework, by the slimmest of margins, 51-48, using a political trick called reconciliation.
Sojourners: US needs to be ‘born again’
The United States must be transformed to find the moral compass it needs to survive the deep-seated fear and anger dividing Americans and threatening constitutional democracy, Sojourners President Adam Russell Taylor said. From Baptist News Global.
World’s tallest cross to remain standing
The spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Francisco César García Magán, stated Friday that the 492-foot cross at the Valley of the Fallen will remain standing as part of the Spanish government’s “resignification” of the site. The huge complex was built after the Spanish Civil War and includes the cross, a Benedictine monastery, a school, and a Stations of the Cross. Between 33,000 and 50,000 Spaniards from both sides of the conflict are interred there. From Catholic News Agency.
Justice Bulletin Board: Palm Sunday
Read the latest in the Sunday series by Barbara Molinari Quinby.
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