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2025-09-07T08:57:15-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Pastoral” Deniability in Progressive Catholicism

Last updated on: September 7, 2025 at 8:57 am By Dennis Knapp

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I often write about my frustration with progressive Catholicism. At times, progressive Catholicism feels like an ever-moving target. I see this most clearly in my exchanges with progressive Catholics in my comment section, especially with fellow blogger Todd Flowerday. After a recent dialogue with Todd, I had an epiphany: the source of my frustration lies in what I call “pastoral” deniability (PD)—a tactic that follows four steps: Affirm, Reframe, Shift, and Cover. Affirm — Acknowledge Church teaching. Reframe — Present... Read more

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Catholic Theology

2025-09-02T09:41:37-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sex Assigned at Birth: From God or Man?

Last updated on: September 2, 2025 at 9:41 am By Dennis Knapp

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I began thinking about this article before the tragic events in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025. On that day, a trans-identifying individual opened fire during a Catholic school Mass, killing two children and injuring seventeen others. In my exchanges with supporters of gender ideology, I often see them ignore or downplay the real-world consequences of mental illness and mutilation. They repeat the same warning: affirm or “people will die.” They demand affirmation of pronouns, chemical interventions, and surgeries. This... Read more

History and Religion

Progressive Catholics

2025-08-26T08:56:42-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Church That Affirms the World Instead of Converting It

Last updated on: August 26, 2025 at 8:56 am By Dennis Knapp

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Quick note to any reader wondering about my absence: I’m doing fine. With the start of the school year and sending my eldest off to college, life has been full. Many thanks to Pilgrim (Peter) for contributing during my brief absence. Returning to the topic of the Church’s appearance if progressives had their way, I now examine how the Church would look in progressive hands. As I stated in the original article, progressive Catholics would steer the Church away from... Read more

Progressive Christian

Politics and Religion

Progressive Catholics

2025-08-15T18:29:44-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

War, Moral Principles, and Contemporary Conflicts

Last updated on: August 15, 2025 at 6:29 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Guest writer: Pilgrim Introduction In Catholic moral theology, the morality of an act depends on three elements: the object (the means chosen), the intention (why it is done), and the circumstances (including foreseeable outcomes) [1]. The object is decisive: some acts are intrinsically wrong regardless of intention or outcome. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “One may not do evil so that good may result from it” [2]. “There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances... Read more

Politics and Religion

2025-08-15T18:02:54-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Would You Sign This?

Last updated on: August 15, 2025 at 6:02 pm By Dennis Knapp

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In July 2025, three respected traditionalist/conservative theologians lost their longstanding professorships at Detroit’s Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Archbishop Edward Weisenburger (installed in March) dismissed Ralph Martin, Ed Peters, and Eduardo Echeverria for what some claim was their disloyalty in questioning the previous pope’s pastoral writings, specifically Amoris Laetitia and Fiducia Supplicans. Others, including me, see their dismissal as evidence of a progressive double standard, since institutions rarely discipline progressive-leaning theologians and clergy who openly dissent from Church teaching. I will... Read more

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2025-08-08T17:33:32-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mike Lewis’s “False Orthodoxy and Fired Professors” Revealed

Last updated on: August 8, 2025 at 5:33 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Guest writer: Pilgrim Pastoralism, Doctrinal Ambiguity, and Asymmetry in Catholic Academic Life Introduction In the summer of 2025, the dismissal of three professors from Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit might have been an occasion for sober discussion about academic freedom, theological method, and the limits of permissible dissent and enquiry in the Catholic Church. Instead, the public debate was framed by Mike Lewis’s in Where Peter Is: as “False Orthodoxy and Fired Professors” [1]. The title set the tone, casting... Read more

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2025-08-05T19:44:40-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Correcting Mike Lewis: Fired Professors Are Not Heretics

Last updated on: August 5, 2025 at 7:44 pm By Dennis Knapp

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What do you call a Catholic theologian who defends Veritatis Splendor, raises concerns about sacramental ambiguity, and urges fidelity to the Church’s perennial moral teachings? According to Mike Lewis at Where Peter Is, you call him a heretic. In his recent article, Lewis celebrates the firing of Ralph Martin, Ed Peters, and Eduardo Echeverria—three scholars who spent decades defending Catholic orthodoxy. Their crime? Expressing concern that recent papal documents like Amoris Laetitia (AL) and Fiducia Supplicans (FS) risk confusing the... Read more

Progressive Christian

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Synod of Synodality

The German Synodal Way

Where Peter Is

2025-08-01T21:35:50-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Progressive Catholicism: The Human Person Reimagined

Last updated on: August 1, 2025 at 9:35 pm By Dennis Knapp

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With this article, we arrive at the third of five in a series exploring what Catholicism becomes if progressive Catholics gain influence. The first article explained how progressive Catholicism shifts the Church from substance to sentiment. The second showed how, under this influence, each person becomes their own magisterium. This article focuses on perhaps the most significant (and dangerous) change: the redefinition of the human person. Why dangerous? Because instead of affirming God’s design for the human person (telos), progressive... Read more

Progressive Christian

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Gender Identity

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Truth

2025-08-01T21:43:52-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Age of Distrust: Pope Francis and the Death Penalty

Last updated on: August 1, 2025 at 9:43 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Guest writer: Pilgrim Introduction The 2018 revision to Catechism of the Catholic Church §2267 by Pope Francis, declares the death penalty “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and commits the Church to work “with determination for its abolition worldwide” [1]. This has stirred wide-ranging debate among Catholic theologians, clergy, and lay scholars. While some interpret this as a legitimate development of doctrine that deepens the Church’s pro-life witness, others view it as... Read more

History and Religion

2025-07-30T10:31:40-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Are Catholics Lost In Theological Fog? Sadly, Many Are…

Last updated on: July 30, 2025 at 10:31 am By Dennis Knapp

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Guest Writer: Pilgrim Introduction Many Catholics today find themselves disoriented by conflicting theological voices, unsure of what the Church truly teaches. This confusion is not always accidental. The Magisterium has warned against “studied ambiguity” used to mislead the faithful under the guise of orthodoxy [1]. In many cases, the use of seemingly faithful language while subtly altering its content lends itself to misinterpretation or even manipulation. A theological trend often described as progressive – one that emphasizes historical conditioning, lived... Read more

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