Leaders of three progressive Catholic groups weigh in on Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love, Pope Francis’ document on the family.

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Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which serves LGBT Catholics, says Pope Francis’ ambiguous language in his document on the family, Amoris Laetitia (the Joy of Love), indicates he’s restless with a clarity that’s deadening. Francis “doesn’t want clarity; he wants a mess.”

Deb Rose-Milavec, executive director of FutureChurch, says the document is a “light years” leap ahead and yet — especially in its insistence on male and female “complementarity,” effectively their being separate but equal — still falls far short of what the Catholic Church needs to do to bring young people into the fold.

Miriam Duignan, spokesman for Women’s Ordination Worldwide, says Francis “has changed the tone of how women are spoken about” and that his legacy will be the decentralization of church power and the application of common sense.

In the news:

Women-Church Convergence Responds to Knights of Columbus and Crux Partnership:

“We are concerned that Crux’s new ‘partnership’ with the Knights of Columbus may result in reporting that reinforces the primacy of institutional Catholicism, excluding the lived realities of many faithful Catholics around the world.”

Find the complete press release, dated April 14, 2016, and signed by 12 Catholic organizations, here:

http://www.waterwomensalliance.org/w-cc-response-to-crux-new-funding-source/

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College of the Holy Cross Prof. Mathew Schmalz, who spent time with Mother Teresa’s missionary sisters in India and met her in the South Bronx, reflects on her life and work in light of Pope Francis’ recent announcement that he will canonize her in September. He also considers another powerful nun, the late EWTN founder Mother Angelica; as well as what will become of Crux, the Boston Globe’s discontinued experiment in Catholic coverage, now that it’s hitched its wagon to the conservative Knights of Columbus; and finally Mat’s recent trip to Brigham Young University where the subject was heaven.

Mat’s latest book, Mercy Matters: Opening Yourself to the Life-Changing Gift, will be out in the first week of May and is already available on Amazon.

Congratulations, UConn women, Coach Auriemma, and your entire amazing program on your historic achievement! We’re so proud of you!