 Pope Francis and the American bishops...
During the most significant debate of last week's meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia rose to decry any suggestion that the American bishops are at odds with Pope Francis, "because that isn't true." That interpretation of the relationship between the U.S. and Rome "sets up an artificial battle between the bishops' conference of the United States and the Holy Father which isn't true...
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Vatican finance guru's exit suggests 'Back to the Future' dynamic on reform...
Logically speaking, it may be contradictory to call something both mystifying and utterly predictable, and yet that seems to be a near-constant when it comes to the Vatican's handling of sensitive or potentially embarrassing news. The latest case in point comes with the departure Monday of Rene Brülhart, the Swiss lawyer who...
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What do we mean by the Communion of Saints?
Continuing our series on the Four Last Things, in today's post we consider an aspect of Heaven called the Communion of Saints. I have discovered that it is frequently misunderstood. Many of you know that I write the weekly "Question and Answer" column for the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper. Every once in a while, someone poses a unique question...
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For “Blessed Fulton Sheen,” Peoria races to beatification day...
As last week in Baltimore was marked by a general mood of siege mentality among the US bishops, these last weeks of 2019 will bring a rare feel-good moment for the bench: for just the second time ever, the elevation of one of their own to the altars... and the Big One at that. Barely four months since the decade-long "Body Wars" ended with the transfer of Venerable Fulton Sheen's remains from St Patrick's Cathedral in New York back to his native Peoria - then the Pope's confirmation within day...
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Homeschooling gains ground in Italy...
Home schooling is a relatively new phenomenon in Europe, compared to how widespread the educational method has become in the United States over the last 40 years. Recent estimates indicate that more than 2.3 million students are being home-schooled in the United States (against an average of 850,000 in 1999 and 1.5 million in 2007)...
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The Norbertine Canonesses are the fourth wonder of my world...
As I grow older, I've become more of a grump and I know why. For the sake of simplicity, I can take all of my life experiences and put into two categories; Good and Bad. These experiences include those where I'm an active participant and others where I'm a passive observer. Now these moments invariably imprinted themselves somewhere in my brain case where they remain to this day...
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Chick-fil-A to stop donating to Salvation Army as LGBT pressure continues...
Fast-food favorite Chick-fil-A will no longer donate to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, according to a Monday announcement. "We made multi-year commitments to both organisations and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018," a spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding the company would focus its giving on "education...
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Venerable Fulton Sheen to be beatified this December in Peoria...
The Diocese of Peoria announced Monday that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified Dec. 21 at the city's Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Archbishop Sheen had been ordained a priest of the diocese in that cathedral Sept. 20, 1919. "It seems entirely fitting that the Beatification will take place at the end of this 100-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood...
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New York Times blockbuster uses leaked files to expose new horrors in China's war on Islam...
Early in my journalism career, a veteran investigative reporter gave me a piece of advice I have never forgotten: The hotter the story, the more you want a document of some kind that you can verify and then show readers. This will build trust. You can see this principal at work in the blockbuster religion story of the weekend — that New York Times foreign desk report about ongoing and even expanding efforts to lock up and...
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Having a friend who is poor will help you get to heaven, Pope says...
The poor are the church's treasure because they give every Christian a chance to "speak the same language as Jesus, that of love," Pope Francis said, celebrating Mass for the World Day of the Poor. "The poor facilitate our access to heaven," the pope said in his homily Nov. 17. "In fact, they open up the treasure that never ages...
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What is eternal life?
I often think that we haven't done a very good job of setting forth the doctrine of eternal life. For most people, the concept seems a rather shallow one: that we will live forever. Frankly, many may not consider it all that appealing if the place where we live forever is Heaven. Too often, Heaven is reduced to merely this: a place where I'll be happy...
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Abortion Is New Litmus Test for Democratic Attorneys General Group...
An association of Democratic state attorneys general will become the first national party committee to impose an explicit abortion litmus test on its candidates, announcing on Monday that it will refuse to endorse anyone who does not support reproductive rights and expanding access to abortion services. To win financial and strategic backing from the group...
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Pope Francis, is the Secretariat of State strengthened?
The appointment of the Jesuit Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy fills one of the most critical 'gaps' in the Roman Curia organizational chart. The Prefect of the Secretariat had been, since its establishment, Cardinal George Pell. When Cardinal Pell went back to Australia to defend himself from infamous allegations of abuse...
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The secular world has one notion of liberty, and Our Lord has another. The two cannot be reconciled... ...
My family goes to a lot of baptisms these days. With several of our Catholic friends raising young children, rarely do a few months go by without fifteen minutes spent peeking over shoulders into the baptistery. One tradition that surprised me the first time I witnessed a baptism in the Extraordinary Form is that the parents are basically spectators: It's the godparents who hold the child and accept the Faith and its obligations on his or her behalf...
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This is spiritually more beneficial than fasting, according to St. John of the Cross...
Spiritual writers have always stressed the importance of fasting, but St. John of the Cross would argue that there is one spiritual discipline that may be even more beneficial than fasting. He writes in his Sayings of Light and Love, "Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water." What he is referring to is the ability to use our words to build up others...
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“I saw the soldiers who killed El Salvador's priests”...
In November 1989 Salvadoran soldiers dragged six Jesuit priests from their beds and murdered them along with their housekeeper and her teenage daughter. The Salvadoran government tried to blame the killings on left-wing rebels, but their version was contradicted by the evidence of one woman, Lucia Cerna, who was hiding near the site of the murders...
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Shock: Lawsuit filed over funeral homily...
You may remember this story from last year, about a family being upset at the homily preached at the funeral of a man who committed suicide. Now, an update, with this press release from a law firm: On November 14, 2019, the law firm of Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC announced that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Linda Hullibarger against The Archdiocese of Detroit...
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We have to be sober about the passing and perilous nature of this world...
During the month of November, the Church has us ponder the Four Last Things: death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell. As the golden gown of autumn gives way to the lifeless look of winter, we are encouraged to see that our lives are on a trajectory that leads to autumn and then to the winter of death. But those who have faith know that this passage to death ultimately leads to glory...
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Mister Rogers, Tom Hanks, the Good Samaritan and the ties that bind...
Anyone who wanted to know why the Rev. Fred Rogers did what he did needed to pause and think about two of the central facts in his career. First, there was the name of the show that made him a television legend: "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Then there was the rite that opened every episode — the transition into the trademark sweater and comfy shoes — and the song that went with it...
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Vatican youth seminary scandal grows with new abuse claims...
A scandal over alleged sexual molestation and abuse at the Vatican's youth seminary is growing, with more former papal altar boys alleging inappropriate behavior by priests inside the Vatican walls. Le Iene, an Italian investigative television program, plans to air the new allegations Sunday; the show provided the broadcast to The Associated Press ahead of time...
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Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally created to be a Star Wars version of Gandalf...
Among the numerous influences behind George Lucas' Star Wars saga, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was a principal driving force in the early drafts of the 1977 film. In fact, Lucas nearly copied Tolkien's dialogue, word-for-word, borrowing Gandalf's greeting to Bilbo in The Hobbit. In How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor...
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'The Irony of Modern Catholic History' is a book too valuable to ignore...
The historian Christopher Lasch (among many others) liked to note that Americans tend to be bad at history. We resent it. We want the past to be over and gone. And there's a very good reason for that instinct. One of our key myths as a nation is that if we work hard enough we can achieve, and deserve to achieve, anything we want...
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Is Australian public opinion shifting in Cardinal Pell's favor?
Although a good deal of negative and angry opinion abounds, a number of commentators are beginning to voice doubts about Cardinal Pell's conviction. One of them is Andrew Bolt, an analyst for Sky News Australia, who has been consistent in voicing skepticism over the case but on Nov. 13 made his strongest declaration to date: That the cardinal is innocent and has been jailed "for a crime [he] could not have done" (see clip below)...
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Pope Francis names Archbishop Gabriele Caccia ambassador to the United Nations...
Pope Francis Saturday named Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia the next Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. "I hope to be able to fulfill well the new task Pope Francis has entrusted to me, seeking to bring the light of Catholic social teaching to the discussions and debates of the international community...
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Global Neo-Paganism is a new threat, but it's not new...
One of the takeaways from the Amazonian Synod was the materialization of a new religious identity in the world. When I say this is a "new religious identity" I do not mean to suggest that it is a new invention. It is, in fact, a religion that is as old and wide and powerful as the Amazon itself. I name it "Global Neo-Paganism" and this new manifestation of the old paganism is unique in certain ways and yet as predictable as a seance...
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Berlioz's “Te Deum” and Chateaubriand's “Genius of Christianity”...
An often overlooked aspect of Romanticism is its revival of the religious spirit. One can chide Romantic works of art for their emotionalism, yet the emphasis on the fantastic and imaginative in Romantic literature, music, and painting was in large part a protest against the dry rationalism of the Enlightenment. If 18th-century philosophes scoffed (sometimes quite ignorantly) at revealed religion...
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'Synodality' is a masquerade, behind which is an agenda...
During the 2001 Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who'd suffered through a lot of synodal speechifying and small-group discussions over the years, made a trenchant observation: "Jesus Christ didn't intend his Church to be governed by a committee." Indeed. The mechanisms of consultation that exist in the Church — from parish councils through diocesan pastoral councils to the Synod of Bishops — exist to strengthen the governance of the Church by its pastors: priests...
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'Frozen II': More sister time, less memorable songs...
"Warmed-over Frozen" is how I described the first Maleficent five years ago: another revisionist take on a classic fairy tale about the relationship between an innocent princess and a rehabilitated witch-villainess ending in true love's kiss subverted. (For the many other parallels, see my review of Maleficent.) Now Frozen II comes out on the heels of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil — and...
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Dignity, defiance and mirth: A plan for dying well...
My wife thinks it's morbid, but I'm planning to buy myself a pine coffin for my 60th birthday. Nothing fancy. Something fashioned by monks. I'll set it up in the living room—lean it against the wall with the lid to one side—and I'll invite visitors to inscribe a few words with a Sharpie (my daughter's idea, and a good one)...
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Do you desire Heaven? Really?
After some sobering reflection on death and judgment over the past several days, it's finally time to talk about Heaven. Now that is a topic everyone wants to hear about! Yet there is a strange disconnect today. As it becomes easier and easier to satisfy our desire for instant gratification, we find it harder and harder to take the time to ponder a future paradise...
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Catholic churches burning in Chile? Apparently this is now just a 'conservative' news story...
The violence that as seized Chile is linked to complex issues of history, economics and bitter political divisions. As you would expect, American news operations have been busy covering other stories. I get that. Meanwhile, the role of the Catholic Church in the politics of Chile is complicated and, as you would expect, decades of arguments about clergy sexual abuse and related topics has not helped the situation...
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How the Japanese bombed Oregon and Michigan during World War II...
Nine-year-old Lawrence "Buzz" Bailey and two neighbor kids ran excitedly toward a large balloon floating to earth on farmland in North Dorr, a rural community in Allegan County south of Grand Rapids. It was Feb. 23, 1945, and they didn't realize they were discovering the remnants of a Japanese attack on the U.S. Bailey went on to serve in the U...
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Pope Francis names Spanish Jesuit head of Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy...
Pope Francis Nov. 14 appointed Spanish Jesuit Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, following the expiration of Cardinal George Pell's term in February. From Merida, Spain, Father Guerrero, 60, will begin his term as prefect in January 2020. Pope Francis established the Secretariat for Economy in 2014 as part of his financial reform of the Vatican...
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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time — The end of the world is near!...
Some years ago I was driving through the back hills of Ohio with my son, and we passed a billboard in a farmer's field that read: "God has a Judgment Day coming!" My son asked me if the farmer who had placed the billboard in his field was Catholic or Protestant. I suggested he probably was a Protestant. My son asked why Catholics didn't put up billboards like that...
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Jesuit martyrs, old and new — without the gospel, social reform is just politics...
Last week in Rome there was a full-on all-stops-pulled celebration of the Jesuits, organized by the Jesuits. Both Pope Francis and Father Arturo Sosa, the superior general, took part. It was a clarifying moment for those who might wonder at the various curiosities offered by the Society of Jesus in these past years under the first Jesuit pope...
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Chilean Churches looted amid anti-government protests...
Several churches across Chile have been attacked and looted amid anti-government protests in the country. The demonstrations began in mid-October in Santiago over a now-suspended increase in subway fares. Other regions joined in the protests, expanding their grievances to inequality and the cost of health care. Protesters broke into Santiago's La Asuncion parish Nov...
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Rare photos: How America's first saint nearly went down with the R.M.S. Titanic...
They would be disappointed of course. They wanted to see her one more time before she left for New York. They were also working to secure passage for her, Sister Antony, and Sister Mary aboard this grand new ship that was to depart from the port in Southampton, about a day's ride to the south of the Convent in Honor Oak, which is near Charing Cross Station...
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Why stuff your soul with gossip, nonsense and vain talk? We have to defend our “right not to know”.....
What often strikes me when listening to or watching news is that at root it's an industry. Every turn of phrase, the tone, the urgency. The news outlets need us to tune in, otherwise their business fails. It's a very bad model, and it has significant negative consequences in our lives, as we are made to feel that we cannot get by without knowing what is 'going on out there'—as if the news were somehow presenting what is really going on in the world...
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In the culture of death, abortion is a sacrament...
The feminist writer Florynce Kennedy once said, "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." She didn't give the left enough credit. Abortion has become a kind of "sacrament" because women can get pregnant. Abortion has morphed from a taboo tragedy to a constitutional right: a sine qua non of the Democratic Party...
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How to influence the way the Lord will judge you...
In the past several posts, we have been considering the judgment that awaits us. Not only must we be ready in the ways we have described, but should allow our looming judgment to help our attitude today. Scripture says, Always speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the Law that gives freedom. For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful (James 2:12-13)...
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On Wounded Shepherds...
Disaffected Catholics of the "conservative" tribe typically criticize the current pontificate on four fronts: for diminishing Catholic thought with an anti-intellectual bias; for undermining a healthy Christian anthropology; for feeding disunity and confusion; and for downplaying the singular nature of the Christian revelation...
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You are going to die and you don't get to say when.....
This should inspire a sober, urgent, and daily preparation for death and judgment. Yet too many people today are not serious about their spiritual walk. They're running around as if life is just some big game. They're not thinking about appearing before the judgment seat. They're not praying. They're not reading Scripture...
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Catholic trade school forms young Catholic men for life and work...
"Harmel Academy of the Trades is a men's Catholic, post-secondary, residential trade school in Grand Rapids, Michigan," said Brian Black, president and co-founder of the new school. "It's open to high school graduates — and young men will enter a program that teaches them a skilled trade, and at the same time...
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If I touched the Moon, what would it feel like?
Twelve people have walked on the moon since humans landed there 50 years ago, but no one has ever directly touched its surface. Those astronauts wore spacesuits outside the lander. No one ever took off a glove or a boot while standing on the moon. Image "Once we got inside and took off our suits and gloves, we did have some lunar dust on the floor...
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Rest, reading, and remembering what a man is.....
It is said the most valuable and hoarded treasure of the modern world is information. Most of this seems to be in the form of what we call "data," but there's also the ambiguous word of "content" that fills our screens and servers. But, paradoxically, it seems our oceans of information have made us shallower in thinking...
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Last Things...
It's long been a dream for some, creating human beings without a womb. J.B.S. Haldane, a scientist and communist, invented the term ectogenesis for it in 1923. He saw it, an article in JSTOR Daily explains, as "the perfect example of how science could bring about radical social change: by freeing women from the necessity of pregnancy...
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Angels, knights, and midichlorians — A look back at 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace'...
There comes a time in every Star Wars fan's life when he is confronted by the reality that the franchise isn't quite geared towards audience members above a certain age. For those who, like me, were members of the ideal demographic target group for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace upon its release in 1999, that reality may hit a little harder than for fans whose childhoods unfolded during the heyday of the timeless original trilogy...
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Parables of Jesus on the Day of Judgment and our need to be ready...
Jesus was urgent in warning us to be ready for judgment. He did this in many ways, but most notably in the parables. In this post let's ponder His teachings and hear His urgency. Most casual readers of the Bible tend to view the parables as merely interesting, entertaining stories. While that is so, they are deadly serious as well; they powerfully portray the drama of human life...
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Does the Pope's nuncio hope to silence questions from American bishops?
"The pastoral thrust of this pontificate must reach the American people," Archbishop Christoph Pierre said today in his address to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Believe me, the impact of this pontificate has reached the American people—but not in the way the apostolic nuncio has in mind. When the US bishops met in Baltimore one year ago...
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A map of the Mediterranean Sea of America...
The map above shows just how big the United States is or just how big the Mediterranean Sea is, depending on your perspective. And it should not be confused with the existing American Mediterranean Sea which is the the combined water body of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. If you look closely you'll see that the map author has gone out of their way to funny details such as the Confederate Sea...
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Don't despair: Hope is found in the Church's faithful, a rock-solid stratum...
When I was teaching at the University of Dallas, sometime in the mid-1990s, it hit me that I was now teaching a very different kind of student, the likes of which I had not seen before. For years, I felt like I was laboriously pulling students up a steep incline to truths they had only barely glimpsed, but I now I was in front of students who had been home-schooled or shaped by one of the Church movements...
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Australian High Court to allow Cardinal Pell to appeal sex-abuse conviction...
The Australian High Court announced Tuesday that Cardinal George Pell has been granted leave to appeal an August decision by the Court of Appeal in Victoria to uphold his conviction for child sexual abuse. Cardinal Pell's appeal to the High Court in Canberra, Australia's supreme court, was his last legal avenue to overturn a conviction that has divided opinion in the country and internationally...
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The Universal Church: Is there a Catholic Church in Antarctica?
The Catholic Church is truly universal: the southernmost place of worship in the world is a cave chapel carved out of ice in Antarctica. Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the South Pole and 5.4 million square miles of ice over a mile thick. At any time, 1000 people during the winter and up to 4000 people during the summer brave temperatures of -100 degrees Fahrenheit...
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Rioters loot, desecrate and set fire to Catholic church statues, pews and sacred art in Chile...
On Friday, Nov. 8, approximately 75,000 rioters gathered in Santiago, Chile's streets, and La Asuncion Catholic Church became a target. The hooded crowd of looters set fire to multiple sacred objects, including Catholic statues, church pews, and sacred paintings from La Asuncion Church in Santiago Chile. They also desecrated the church's inside...
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St. Martin's Day: The feast that began the fast...
This website focuses on rebuilding Catholic culture through art, festivity, education, Catholic history and traditions, and a life shaped by prayer. St. Martin of Tours (c.316-97) can be considered one of the original builders of Catholic culture. Thanks to Sulpitius Severus, we have a detailed biography speaking of his life as a soldier...
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Foster children in America: We can do more...
More than 442,000. That's roughly the number of children in foster care in America. Many of us go about our days not thinking about them. Others among us open hearts and homes to children who need loving permanency. Earlier this month, I was with one of those children, Sarah Zagorski, now a mother of her own. We were screening a short...
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Archbishop José Gomez elected president of U.S. Bishops' Conference...
When he became a priest four decades ago, Archbishop Jose Gomez did not expect that he would one day lead the largest archdiocese in the U.S., or the country's bishops' conference. "I just wanted to be a priest," Archbishop Gomez told CNA with a laugh, speaking about his election. "Somehow God wanted me to do what I am doing...
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Dominicans order up preaching for the digital age...
St. Dominic preached the Catholic faith in the squares and taverns of France where people congregated, and 800 years later, his Order of Preachers is now taking that Dominican tradition into the digital sphere. The Western Province of Dominicans, Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, have now upped their digital preaching game by rolling out a new OPWest App...
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Hate This, Not That!...
Years ago I used to enjoy the mind-numbing babble of a popular national morning show while I got ready for work. One segment that caught my attention was, "Eat this! Not that!" The ultra-skinny host whose own diet clearly consisted of an occasional rice cake topped with kale would run through a display of mouth-watering dishes...
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Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll and the path to death...
Recently, the pornographic actress Jessica Redding was found dead at 43. It made me reflect as I remembered hearing that "rock star" was the job with the lowest life expectancy. I remember when we were in middle school rebellion and thought Kurt Cobain was the greatest musician ever, only to find out a few months later that he stuck a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger...
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Pondering our judgment, one of the Four Last Things...
There is a distinction to be made between our personal judgment and the general judgment of the whole world. In the general judgment, God's truth and justice will be made manifest; all those who have loved evil will be seen by all for who and what they were. Further, every evil and foolish philosophy will be seen for the darkness it is...
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On opening day of the USCCB meeting, more questions than answers...
A hundred years since the bishops of the United States - freshly gathered into an episcopal conference - made their first collective strike on the national stage with a sweeping Program of Social Reconstruction, the bench has returned to its cradle in this Premier See with a considerably less ambitious agenda, but the specter of history still hanging over the place...
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The Church is like a machine for making saints...
"The Church in heaven is All Saints," explains the English priest and writer Ronald Knox. "The Church in purgatory is All Souls. The Church on earth is all sorts." Everyone will like Knox's line. But I think one of the reasons Catholics fret so much about the Church and yell at each other is that very few of us actually believe it...
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Cardinal Burke to Ross Douthat: “I'm called the enemy of the Pope, which I am not”...
In mid-October, while the Catholic Church's internal debates were reaching another crescendo at a synod for the Amazon region held in Rome, I sat down with Cardinal Raymond Burke, best known as Pope Francis's most vocal critic in the church's hierarchy. Our conversations, which continued last week, covered Burke's role in Francis-era debates about Catholic moral teaching...
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9 ingenious smuggling machines that beat the Berlin Wall...
November 9, 2019, marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the physical embodiment of the Iron Curtain separating East and West in the Cold War. The Wall was built in 1961 to stop East Germans escaping to the West, but thousands found ways to beat it, using modified cars, a zipwire, and other feats of backyard engineering...
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I treat teens who have attempted suicide. Here's what they told me.....
I'll never forget the first time I cared for a teenager who had made a suicide attempt. The young man, whom I'll call Zach, was home from college for winter break. I was a senior medical student completing my clinical rotation in psychiatry. He told me he was having difficulty adjusting to college: He and his roommate weren't getting along; he missed his brother and parents; and he was beginning to lose touch with friends from high school...
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You and I have unfinished business...
Every morning, on our way to Mass we pass two houses that are under construction, side by side. When we first moved to this area, these two houses looked close to completion; the scaffolding around them showed that the contractor was finishing up the facades. Twenty years later the scaffolding is still in place; the facades are still unfinished...
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The Earth is not my mother. Here's why.....
One of the most disturbing things about the final document from the Amazonian Synod is the repeated and unchallenged reference to "Mother Earth." In the desire to "inculturate the gospel" the synod organizers are infecting the Catholic faith with a religious concept which has always been incontrovertibly pagan and which the Christian faith has always steadfastly resisted...
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Theology in 'dialogue with cultures' renews humanity, Pope Francis says...
When theology and philosophy engage with cultures in creative ways, they become a powerful tool for renewing humanity with the Word of God, Pope Francis said Saturday, during the awarding of the 2019 Ratzinger Prize. "This is true for all cultures: access to redemption for humanity in all of its dimensions should be sought with creativity and imagination...
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DACA and our future...
One of the great blessings I've had in my years as a bishop was serving with then-Auxiliary Bishop Jose Gomez during my tenure in Denver. As shepherd now of the largest and most diverse archdiocese in the United States - the Archdiocese of Los Angeles - Archbishop Gomez has brought a balanced, prudent, and articulate leadership to a wide range of difficult issues...
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How to explain Pope Francis without making things worse...
Every seriously committed Catholic who is paying attention to Pope Francis has to figure out a way to deal with him both in their own minds, and in speaking about the Church with others. There may be as many different approaches to this problem as there are serious Catholics, but there are certainly several broad categories of response...
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How do you see death? Do you long to one day depart this life and go home to God? ...
I am struck by the fact that almost no one speaks publicly of a longing to depart this life and be with God. I suspect that it is because we live very comfortably, at least in the affluent West. Many of the daily hardships with which even our most recent ancestors struggled have been minimized if not eliminated. I suppose that when the struggles of this life are minimized...
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U.S. Bishops counter narrative of resistance to Pope Francis...
The U.S. bishops' conference issued Thursday a statement responding to a recent book that the conference says perpetuates a myth that it is resistant to Pope Francis. Austen Ivereigh's Wounded Shepherd was published Nov. 5 by Henry Holt and Co. The book "perpetuates an unfortunate and inaccurate myth that the Holy Father finds resistance among the leadership and staff of the U...
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Those martyrs who don't make the news — a testimony from Burkina Faso...
The killing of Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi does not by any means allow the letting down of one's guard on the aggressiveness of the countless armed units that take their inspiration from Islamist fundamentalism. Aid to the Church in Need, the foundation of pontifical right engaged in supporting persecuted Christians all over the world...
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Fearlessness and the American bishops in Rome...
I once knew a Congregationalist minister — Yale Divinity School graduate, decorated World War II chaplain, veteran campaigner for then-unpopular liberal causes — of whom it was said (sometimes by himself) that "David Colwell so fears God that he fears no one else." It was a striking statement, redolent, perhaps, of the Jonathan Edwards ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") School of American Protestant Homiletics...
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Survey says: Most Catholics in U.S. reject Church teaching on cohabitation...
Nearly three quarters of Catholics in the United States are not opposed to couples cohabiting before marriage, despite the Church's moral teaching. A new survey by the Pew Research Center, released Nov. 6, reports that Americans as a whole are very accepting of unmarried couples living together, even if they have no plans to marry...
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For us faithful, the day we die is the greatest day of our life on this earth...
Is calling the day we die the greatest day of our life too strong a statement? I have seen some fellow Christians wince at it. In this age of emphasis on worldly comforts, medicine, and the secular, we rarely speak of Heaven—or Hell for that matter. I wonder if we have lost some of our longing for Heaven and cling too strongly to the trinkets of this life...
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It's time for journalists to ask: What has happened to the Vatican press office?
Let's start with a loaded question. But it's a questions that journalists really need to ask, because of trends during recent events in Catholic life. So here goes: Is the Vatican's press office helping to push a progressive agenda that could forever change the Catholic church? Here's the background: The Pan-Amazonian Synod that ended over a week ago wasn't without controversy...
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L'Osservatore Romano offers inaccurate reporting on U.S. election...
In its brief front-page coverage of election results in four states ("Negative election test for Trump"), L'Osservatore Romano inaccurately reported that New Jersey is "tradizionalmente un red state"—"traditionally a red state." The newspaper also inaccurately reported that the November 5 election was "Super Tuesday"; in reality...
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Remembering the night when bombs fell on the Vatican...
It was a dark autumn night in Rome, which was suffering under the occupation of Nazi Germany and was the target of bombing raids by Allied and Axis forces. The Vatican City State was a neutral territory in World War II, but shortly after 8pm on Nov. 5, 1943, a small, non-descript plane dropped five bombs onto the Vatican. Only four detonated: The first went off near the Vatican train station; a second exploded on the mosaic workshop of the Vatican Museums...
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I got access to my secret consumer score. Now you can get yours, too.....
As consumers, we all have "secret scores": hidden ratings that determine how long each of us waits on hold when calling a business, whether we can return items at a store, and what type of service we receive. A low score sends you to the back of the queue; high scores get you elite treatment. Every so often, journalists lament these systems' inaccessibility...
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