Thomas Reese

Signs of the Times: There is something exciting about living in extraordinary times — times of surprises, special events and even challenges. These are the days when it is easier to get out of bed in the morning. You have something to look forward to.

Signs of the Times: There are five reasons why next month's meeting in Rome, called by Pope Francis to deal with the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, may well be a failure before it even starts.

Signs of the Times: Most bishops do not oppose making Catholic clergymen mandatory reporters except when it comes to what a priest hears in the sacrament of confession. 

Signs of the Times: "Grossly misleading, irresponsible, inaccurate, and unjust" is how former New York Times religion reporter Peter Steinfels describes last August's Pennsylvania grand jury report in its sweeping accusation that Catholic bishops refused to protect children from sexual abuse.

Shortly before Christmas, Pope Francis declared in response to the sexual abuse crisis that "the church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes."

Nothing chases a person out of the Catholic Church and away from Christ faster than a bad priest. The priest does not have to be a child molester. He may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive or just stupid.

Hope is a difficult virtue to maintain these days, when the future seems uncertain and religious and political leaders have lost all credibility.

Nothing gets the pope on the front page of newspapers faster than saying something about homosexuality. This was evident when reports of a book-length interview with Pope Francis focused on what he had to say about gay priests.

Now is the time for the proponents of religious liberty to offer to negotiate a grand compromise with those who promote women’s rights.

The word "church" has multiple meanings. One theologian counted more than a dozen different ways "church" was used in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, referring to everything from a building to the Mystical Body of Christ.

Signs of the Times: The U.S. bishops, meeting in Baltimore, felt their house was burning down, and the Vatican was asking them to delay turning on the fire hoses.

As the U.S. Catholic bishops gather in Baltimore to discuss controversial issues such as clerical sexual abuse and racism, some people are talking about the threat of schism.

For those looking for Pope Francis' synod of bishops on young people to settle the current divides in the Catholic Church between bishops and laity, conservatives and reformers, LGBT Catholics and those who regard that group as an oxymoron, the synod's final report is bound to disappoint.

Signs of the Times: These bishops see young people as empty vessels into which they will pour content. Or worse, vessels filled with garbage that must be removed to make room for the church's content.

The canonizations of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Óscar Romero did not occur without controversy.  

As the Catholic church's monthlong synod on young people reaches its halfway point here, there has been more excitement outside the synodal hall than inside.

A high-ranking Vatican cardinal has blasted Archbishop Carlo Viganò for calling for the resignation of the pope and accusing a dozen Vatican officials of covering up the sexual abuse of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Pope Francis urged bishops to reject conformism and frames of mind that "paralyze, separate and alienate us from young people," leaving them "orphans without a faith community to sustain them."

Signs of the Times: The future of the Catholic Church is with the young, which is why Pope Francis has called bishops from all over the world to meet in Rome Oct. 3-28 for a synod on young people. If the church cannot attract and keep young people, it has no future.

Were Brett Kavanaugh a Catholic priest being considered for promotion to bishop, or a bishop looking to become cardinal, his promotion would be dead in the water until his name was cleared.