In this episode, Tom Riello interviews Tim Troutman on his recent article “Holy Orders and the Sacrificial Priesthood.” Who are the rightful shepherds of Christ’s flock?  Is Holy Orders truly a sacrament?  These and other questions are addressed in this episode. [podcast]https://www.calledtocommunion.com/media/Called%20to%20Communion%20-%20%20Episode%2013%20-%20Holy%20Orders.mp3[/podcast] Download the mp3 by right clicking here.

We make judgments about corporeal objects because they are below us, and we say not only that they are or are not this way, but also that they ought to be this way or ought not to be… We make these judgments according to the inner rules of truth which we perceive in common. But […]

The period of persecution under Decius in the middle of the third century and the subsequent controversies in Italy and Northern Africa is one of the most confusing periods of ante-Nicene Church history. So much writing has survived that we are able to bring a lot of characters into play. To make things more confusing, […]

Neal and I offered a brief reply to the tu quoque objection in our article titled “Solo Scriptura, Sola Scriptura, and the Question of Interpretive Authority.” Here I provide a more thorough reply to the tu quoque objection, and open a forum for discussion of the authority argument and the tu quoque objection.

“But as the old Confusion of tongues was laudable, when men who were of one language in wickedness and impiety, even as some now venture to be, were building the Tower; (Genesis 11:7) for by the confusion of their language the unity of their intention was broken up, and their undertaking destroyed; so much more […]

Being Catholic is a lot like being a child with many toys. In fact, he has so many that his parents will often rotate the toys in and out of the house so that when the toy is brought back out the child rediscovers the excitement of the toy all over again. There are so […]

St. Paul’s Apostleship was unique because he was not part of the original twelve nor was he, like St. Matthias, ordained to fulfill a vacancy in the twelve. 1 In my recent article on Holy Orders, it may not be clear how some of the claims I made about the Apostolic office apply to St. […]

It looks like the first moves towards establishing an ordinariate in the United Kingdom have been made by the Traditional Anglican Communion in this country. According to Anglo-Catholic, the group–which is small in Britain– has made a formal request to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Read the full story here.

In my recent article on Holy Orders, I gave a condensed explanation of the male-only priesthood in footnote #233. For further reading, I’d like to recommend the following recent posts on the topic: Jeffrey Steel: Women priests? A Marian Church in a fatherless and motherless culture, by von Balthasar Dr. Edward Feser: God, man, and […]

I want to follow up on a topic briefly raised in Tim Troutman’s article on Holy Orders, and in Jonathan Deane’s recent post. The topic is consecrated celibacy, as required for religious life and the higher Orders of Catholic clergy.