Non Habemus Pontificator

Fr. Al Kimel better known to most of us simply as the Pontificator has announced the end of his blog Pontifications. His departure will leave a large void in the religious corner of the blogosphere. While most of us will undoubtedly feel a sense of loss at his departure, it sounds like his decision at least for now is the right one. Fr. Kimel wrote movingly of the personal and spiritual struggles in his life. Being torn from the Episcopal Church by its apostasy left him scarred. And as he wrote in his emotional farewell, some wounds do not fully heal. We all suffer at times from what Catholics used to call the dark night of the soul or what we Orthodox refer to more generally as spiritual warfare. And we must all do what we think is right under spiritual direction to deal with these crisis.

Thus it is with sadness that I bid farewell to the Pontificator whose website was one of the best on the web, and will likely remain the gold standard against which most other Catholic blogs are judged. Fr. Kimel was a great intellectual (and occasional critic of yours truly). Reading the lively and generally civil debates on Pontifications helped give me clarity at a time in my life when I really needed it. And for that I am deeply grateful. I ask the reader to keep Fr. Kimel in your prayers as he carries on in whatever calling God has in mind for him.