At the peak of the so-called “woke-wave” that has shaped public discourse over the last decade or so, many “progressive” figures urged the Catholic Church to adapt to new language and fashionable ideologies. The Church has patiently answered with counterarguments drawn from its teaching, often met with derision and accusations of being rigidly backward. At the heart of this cultural…

A few years ago, a couple of my parishioners requested a Mass to be offered around her birthday for Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, as a leader and heroic figurehead for the Burmese opposition. However, at the time the request for Mass was made, she was the de facto Prime Minister of Myanmar, as it…

Highly unusually for me, I recently went to two weddings a month apart. I didn’t officiate either, so the usual pressure to perform was off, and at best I played only a minorly ornamental role. Obviously, all wedding guests’ attention was squarely on the bride and groom, yet everyone had made an effort to look the part: coiffed ladies in…

Just a couple of months ago, news bulletins focused on the dramatic consequences of the extremely hot summer across the continent and in England. Footage and photos of raging wildfires, parched fields and scorched ground dominated TV screens and front pages, accompanied by reports of residents fleeing their homes, farmers helplessly watching their crops wither and ordinary people struggling in…

It all kicked off when Jesus made his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem in the manner of a royal coronation. The scene resembled the story of young Solomon, King David’s son, who was nearly outsmarted by one of his stepbrothers and who would have succeeded the old and ailing king. The disaster was narrowly avoided thanks to King…