Joshua J. McElwee

National Catholic Reporter • 24th November 2020

Washington's Archbishop Gregory expects 'respectful' dialogue with President Biden

ROME — Washington, D.C., Archbishop Wilton Gregory expects being able to dialogue with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, only the second Catholic to be elected to the nation's highest office, "in an honest and respectful way." In an NCR interview, the archbishop said he imagines being able to work with Biden on issues of mutual interest.

National Catholic Reporter • 1st October 2020

Fidelity oaths spark fear of return to theological silencing

VATICAN CITY — Several prominent theologians are raising concerns about how the Vatican's doctrinal office has handled the case of Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, saying the decision to issue fidelity oaths to the priest over his support for women's ordination appears out of line with Pope Francis' calls for a Catholic Church open to dialogue.

National Catholic Reporter • 28th September 2020

Up-close account of Pell's historic trial raises an uncomfortable question

Throughout the unprecedented three-year saga of the arrest, conviction and ultimate acquittal of Australian Cardinal George Pell, there was no dearth of commentary on the case. Almost every single word of it was grossly uninformed.

National Catholic Reporter • 22nd September 2020

Vatican cardinal defends issuing fidelity oaths to Irish priest Tony Flannery

VATICAN CITY — The head of the Vatican's powerful doctrinal congregation Sept. 22 defended his office's request that an Irish priest sign four strict oaths of fidelity to Catholic teachings, saying the move, while "very unpleasant," was part of the congregation's duty as the global church's orthodoxy watchdog.

National Catholic Reporter • 17th September 2020

Vatican tells Irish priest Flannery to sign fidelity oaths, or remain suspended

ROME — A popular Irish priest suspended from public ministry in 2012 primarily over his support for women's ordination is now being threatened by the Vatican that his suspension will remain indefinite unless he signs four strict oaths of fidelity to Catholic teachings.

National Catholic Reporter • 14th September 2020

I or we? Vatican sparks baptism controversy that isn't so controversial

ROME — The Vatican's decision in August to clarify the formula that should be used in the Catholic rite of baptism attracted unusual interest after it caused something of a theological head-scratcher.

National Catholic Reporter • 28th August 2020

First, lasts and heeding the coronavirus realities

As my wife and I emerged from Italy's strict, nine-week-long Coronavirus lockdown in May, we tentatively began to mark the "firsts." First time we went for a walk outside. (During the lockdown, we could only walk in circles on our building's roof.) First time I went back to the Vatican press office. (After about 90 days away… by far the longest I'd not seen the place since we moved here six years ago, thanks to the wild reality we call the year 2020.)ve been sharply rising in past weeks. Italy's Civil Protection a

National Catholic Reporter • 14th July 2020

Exclusive: Dolan sends book on 'The Next Pope' to cardinals around the world

ROME — New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has forwarded copies of a book that suggests qualities desirable in a future pope to cardinals across the globe, in an apparent break with the longstanding practice that the Catholic Church's highest prelates refrain from publicly lobbying for possible candidates for the papacy.

National Catholic Reporter • 22nd June 2020

Rome's Catholic peace community hails episcopal appointment of one of its own

Social justice promoters for the world's religious orders are praising Pope Francis' unusual appointment of one within their ranks as a diocesan bishop, saying the choice emphasizes the importance of their work and ministry.

National Catholic Reporter • 15th June 2020

US worship publishers see income 'evaporate' due to pandemic restrictions

Leaders at the three major U.S. publishers of Catholic worship resources are expressing concern about how the continuing coronavirus pandemic will impact their operations, which largely rely on bulk sales of hymnals and missalettes to individual parishes.

National Catholic Reporter • 27th May 2020

'Vos Estis' at one year: Some question pope's process for investigating bishops

It is a bit early to assess the effect of Pope Francis' new global system for how the Catholic Church evaluates reports of clergy sexual abuse or cover-up by individual bishops, say canon lawyers who spoke to NCR. They also raised questions about the new process, first established in May 2019, which involves the empowering of archbishops to conduct investigations of prelates accused in their local regions.

National Catholic Reporter • 21st May 2020

Director general confirms Vatican bank is not invested in fossil fuels

The head of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican bank, has verified that the institution does not maintain investments in the fossil fuel sector. In a May 21 statement to NCR, the director general of the bank said he wished to "confirm" an earlier statement from one of the institution's former employees.

National Catholic Reporter • 7th May 2020

US Catholic magazine unpublishes two articles critical of Cardinal Dolan

U.S. Catholic magazine, a storied national outlet published by the Claretian Missionaries, has quietly unpublished from its website two recent articles that were critical of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan's flattering comments about President Donald Trump.

National Catholic Reporter • 1st May 2020

Cardinal Pell's release stokes concerns about Australia's plenary council

A number of influential Catholic figures across Australia are expressing concern that the divisive atmosphere stoked by the recent quashing of Cardinal George Pell's sexual abuse convictions could frustrate hopes for an upcoming once-in-a-generation assembly of the nation's church.

National Catholic Reporter • 1st May 2020

An Australian bishop speaks about a national church 'fraught with division'

Like many Catholics in Australia, Bishop Vincent Long speaks about the upcoming plenary council as something of a final chance for the national church to show it has both reformed on clergy sexual abuse and can still be culturally relevant in the 21st century. In an emailed NCR interview focused on how the quashing of Cardinal George Pell's convictions might affect the gathering, which has been in preparation for two years, Long called the assembly "the last throw of the dice."

National Catholic Reporter • 24th April 2020

'Grace comes through': Three bishops on ministering during a pandemic

Beyond the myriad health and economic anxieties caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Catholics across the United States are also struggling with being unable to physically attend Mass or otherwise gather in person together for worship or prayer. In separate NCR interviews focused on their message for Catholics in this unprecedented time, three of the country's bishops urged lay faithful to do what they can, despite the unique difficulties of the moment, to develop their prayer lives and help those in need.

National Catholic Reporter • 24th February 2020

Cardinal Gracias: Church must 'shed prejudice' against women's leadership

One of the six members of Pope Francis' advisory Council of Cardinals has acknowledged a bias among the members of the Catholic Church's all-male hierarchy against giving women more leadership roles, saying he and his peers must "shed this prejudice."

National Catholic Reporter • 19th February 2020

'Nothing' bishop gets frank on married priests, Vatican under Francis

If you believe Bishop John Michael Botean's description of himself, he's "a nothing bishop from a nothing diocese." If so, that self-described identity appears to have bestowed on the Ohioan a rather unusual level of candor for a U.S. prelate.

National Catholic Reporter • 28th October 2019

On Catholic women deacons, San Diego's McElroy is 'in favor of it'

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy said he supports allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic Church, in what appears as the first such public disclosure of a U.S. prelate since Pope Francis reopened consideration of the history of women's diaconal ordination in 2016.

National Catholic Reporter • 26th September 2019

Noted Irish theologian and ecumenist Gerard Mannion dies at 48

Mannion's sudden death left theologians on several continents struggling to evaluate the life and work of a colleague and friend often remembered for his gregarious nature and as the lively heart of national and international theological gatherings. Gerard Mannion, who had been a senior research fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center since 2014, died Sept. 21 after apparently collapsing during a morning jog in the Washington area. He was 48. A young Irish theologian with a global rep