The first is the open letter written by Hans Kung, published in the Irish Times. Kung is the German theologian who was a colleague of Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) at Tubingen University in the ’60s. They were the two youngest theologians at the Vatican II council. He writes with passion, intellect, and pleads with the bishops to take action. The full letter is here.

The other is an essay written anonymously, published in Commonweal in response to the controversy after a Catholic School in Boulder, Colorado refused admission to the children of a gay couple. The author tells us a great deal about herself, her spiritual journey, and the open and affirming Catholicism she has experienced throughout her life, and continues to experience, as her sons attend a Catholic School and were welcomed by the priest.

It’s difficult to watch what’s going in the Catholic Church today. As a historian, I’m constantly mindful of the need to take the long view, but as a pastor, it’s heart-breaking to watch the pain and suffering that so many Catholics are undergoing.