Phyllis Zagano

Just Catholic: Whether about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick or President Donald Trump, their complementary stories provide background noise to the worldwide pandemic and save us the trouble of reading medieval history.

Just Catholic: Fratelli Tutti is written by a man who took the title from a man who was speaking to men, and now this document is addressed to men. Well, why not? It's not women who are ruining the world.

Just Catholic: Forget about women in church leadership. Could the Vatican maybe hire a few women editors? The latest embarrassment: "Fratelli tutti," title of the coming papal encyclical, is Italian for "all brothers."

Just Catholic: There was lots of talking together and walking together at the recent Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region. Some 230 men and 35 women met, but on the interrelated questions of married priests and women deacons, the talking and the walking fell short.

Just Catholic: The good news is 15 new cardinals seem to be on the Roman horizon. The bad news is they are all men. And the fact of the matter is, if you are not at the table, you are not part of the discussion.

Just Catholic: The cult of personality is a very scary thing. No matter where or how it forms, it usually crashes and burns with the death or diminishment of the individual who gained a following.

Just Catholic: We cannot have any expectation of ordinary pre-pandemic Masses soon, but the tease of guidelines and statements raises a false hope. And the minimal input of women to reopening plans is obvious.

Just Catholic: As the human race joins the rest of the planet in a struggle for survival, the church is also trying to find its footing. Why? Clericalism.

Just Catholic: As most of the church sits in isolation, hoping and praying for an "all clear" message and the chance to resume life as it was, new ways of being church arise.

Just Catholic: Apostolic exhortations neither clarify doctrine nor make law. If Francis is going to do anything about married priests and women deacons, he will — he must — use another type of document.

Just Catholic: "The Two Popes" is feel-good fiction about the disparate personalities of Pope Francis and his predecessor. Now, a "three pope" book tries to pit Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah against Francis.

Just Catholic: Wannabe schismatics claim anyone who disagrees with them, beginning with Pope Francis, is a heretic. News flash: They are not "wannabe schismatics." They are already in schism.

Just Catholic: The Austrian who stole the statues of Our Lady of the Amazon and tossed them in the Tiber is on a U.S. speaking tour. There seems to be all-in-one packaging in the message of the thief and his gun-toting supporters: They deny climate change and decry married priests, women deacons, and the pope himself.

Just Catholic: Laws on clerical marriage and the ordination of women arise from the same misogynistic swamp. And each is what canon lawyers call a "merely ecclesiastical law."

Just Catholic: The Amazon synod has no voting women. It was not always like this. Years ago, the abilities, intellects and legal authority of women were respected.

Just Catholic: For the developed world's pundits and politicians, the discussion is not about people who are poor. It's about themselves. As our collapsing world writhes in pain, they break out in Twitter wars.

Just Catholic: The situation on the U.S. southern borders is disgraceful. In Texas alone, some 16,000 persons jam detention centers, hoping for asylum. They came in hope. They may be sent back. What is going on?

Just Catholic: What deacons do not do is buy their way up the ladder, for there is none to climb. Deacons are ministers. For the most part, diocesan priests are wholly dependent on their bishops, who may in turn be indebted to their metropolitan archbishops, who may in turn be indebted to the nuncio, and so it goes.

Just Catholic: You may consult your notes regarding your personal examination of ancient liturgies, historical documents, epigraphical evidence, frescos, mosaics, and early literary descriptions of ministry by women.

Just Catholic: Yes, women — and men — can receive communion at any Mass, but the distance between the people of God and the altar is exponentially and symbolically increased when tens or hundreds of bishops, priests and deacons form a virtual armed guard, with or without torches.