For Francis, mercy is not a response to those who fail at church teaching, it is the crux of the church's teaching, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.
Thomas Reese: Before he dies or retires, Pope Francis needs to make changes in the process of electing a new pope to avoid the possibility of a deadlocked conclave.
Elected just five years after Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation by publicly posting his 95 Theses, Pope Adrian "above all sought reconciliation in the church and in the world," Pope Francis said.
Fr. Daniel Horan: Just as racism is a white problem, sexual abuse in the church is a clergy problem. White people need to name and confront "white fragility," and we clergy need to name and confront "clerical fragility."
Commentary: There is a parallel between the rejection of the Second Vatican Council and the relationship between the U.S. church and Pope Francis. Opposition to Francis is rooted in the opposition to Vatican II.
The late Cardinal Eduardo Pironio apparently took money from Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, disgraced founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Should that figure into the case for Pironio's sainthood?
Michael Sean Winters: Anthony Annett's new Cathonomics may be the best book on Catholic social teaching out there. Every Catholic business school should make it required reading.
Survivors of clergy sexual abuse are criticizing retired Pope Benedict XVI's response to a report that faulted his handling of abuse cases, calling his lack of a direct apology an abdication of personal responsibility.