Civil society tends to become a sort of artificial reservoir for an endangered species: the democratic intellectual, protected by the international institutions
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democracy in the catholic church?openDemocracy writers assess the legacy of the Polish pope, Karol Wojtyła, and ask whether the world's most powerful religious institution can be made more democratic.
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States was a diplomatic success. But what is he for?
A year since Regensburg, as the Latin liturgy is restored, Michael Walsh takes the pope 's measure
The shifting religious landscape of Brazil presents a major challenge of policy and empathy to the visiting conservative pope, says Rodrigo de Almeida. Read the rest of this post...
Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey was as important for Catholic-Orthodox dialogue as for European-Turkish, says Michael Walsh. But in healing one breach did it open another? Read the rest of this post...
One year after the death of Pope John Paul II, Adam Szostkiewicz links Poland’s preparations for the visit of his successor Benedict XVI to concerns over the future of a Catholic media empire. Read the rest of this post...
The Vatican’s boycott campaign helped turn Italians’ passionate debate over fertility treatment and embryo research into a referendum flop. Sarah Pozzoli assesses the democratic fallout. Read the rest of this post...
Joseph Ratzinger, the new Pope Benedict XVI, could represent the long withdrawing roar of a sclerotic Kremlin-like empire, says Andrew Brown. Read the rest of this post...
The cardinals’ choice of new pope reflects the Catholic church’s crisis of modernity, says Michael Walsh. Read the rest of this post...
The heartbeat of the Catholic church is in the poor south, and it pulses for fundamental truths not liberal nostrums, says Joanna Bogle. Read the rest of this post...
Pope John Paul II’s failure of political nerve and imagination leaves the Catholic church facing a decisive choice, says Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Read the rest of this post...
Pope John Pauls II’s death leaves Catholics worldwide needing to grow spaces of dialogue where appropriate forms of democracy become possible, says Timothy Radcliffe. Read the rest of this post...
Women are leading the challenge of renewal to the 21st-century Catholic church, says Lavinia Byrne. Read the rest of this post...
As millions gather to witness the Polish pope’s Rome burial, Ariel Dorfman recalls the five minutes in Chile that define his life’s paradox. Read the rest of this post...
The retired archbishop of São Paulo reveals to Laura Greenhalgh the Polish pope’s unexpected sympathy for “liberation theology” and frustrations with his Vatican advisers. Read the rest of this post...
Can democratic reform of the Catholic church escape the stifling influence of the Vatican? Michael Walsh of Heythrop College proposes creative ways forward. Read the rest of this post...
Pope John Paul II's successor will be chosen by a secretive, top-down process. Austen Ivereigh, press secretary to one of the cardinals involved, calls for reform in the way the church is governed. Read the rest of this post...
In his long life, the Polish pope, Karol Wojtyła, was at the forefront of the struggle for liberty. But in his twenty-six years at the Vatican, where did this towering figure stand on democracy? The distinguished writer Neal Ascherson dissects an ambiguous legacy. Read the rest of this post...
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