This weekend, close to half a million souls will descend upon Washington D.C. Teens will stay up all night Saturday, praying and praising in our national Shrine. Housewives from the south will stand next to University presidents from the north in the freezing cold, while businessmen from the east mingle with college students from the west, […]
Prester John Somewhere there’s a priest named Prester John The answer to our prayers, our champion, Though we know what heaven we require It isn’t found on Earth, but somewhat higher – He can pull it down and anchor it, A giant air balloon, and there it sits In a week or month it is […]
Every parent should consider their child a gift and a miracle, because every human life is an unrepeatable, absolutely incredible, physical manifestation of God’s image and His love in this world. Our daughter Clare is a miracle because of that truth; but there’s something even more miraculous about her story that merits repeating. In this […]
Dear Brother Bishops, I greet all of you with fraternal affection and I pray that this pilgrimage of spiritual renewal and deepened communion will confirm you in faith and commitment to your task as Pastors of the Church in the United States of America. As you know, it is my intention in the course of […]
A Gay Marriage Equality bill (read SB 6239) has been introduced this month in Washington State. The measure is deceptive and exceedingly dangerous. It represents a radical shift in the definition of marriage, and it would pose a serious threat to religious freedom. … The bill’s introduction says it would not force clergy or churches to marry […]
The subject line of the email from my daughter read, “I shudder.” The text said only, “You won’t believe this,” and included a link to a video that my 14-year-old freshman, Amy, wanted me to see. The video that prompted her concern was an episode of “Teens React,” a YouTube series from Fine Brothers Productions, […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, It is always a joy to celebrate this Holy Mass with the baptism of children on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I greet you all with affection, dear parents, godparents and all of you, relatives and friends! You have come here — you said so aloud — so […]
Fears are growing for the safety of two priests from Sudan who have been abducted. Fr. Joseph Makwey, in his 40s, and Fr. Sylvester Mogga, in his mid-30s, were seized on Sunday, January 15th, by men who smashed through the gates of their parish compound and broke down the presbytery door. According to neighbors, the […]
The rise — at least temporarily — of Rick Santorum has given rise to speculation of late, most notably by David Brooks, that it might facilitate a rethinking on the right about how America addresses some of the hard-to-deny social pathologies that characterize much of American society. Chiming in to this debate is Michael Gerson. He argues […]
One city in China has introduced a surprising measure to deal with the consequences of the government’s cruel one-child policy. It’s cracking down on the morning-after pill. Bloomberg reports that on December 21, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Fuzhou, the capitol city of Fujian Province, ordered pharmacies to register the names, phone numbers […]
A couple of years ago, a well-known and highly regarded apologist sent his subscriber list an email article about finding a spouse. He began by explaining that when he was young, he made the mistake of thinking that liking and loving were basically the same thing, with the latter being just a more intense version […]
Probably no informed Catholic would dispute the fact that the period since the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 has been a notably tumultuous period in the life of the Church. Dissent and heresy have flourished and many Catholics have little troubled to base their thought on the doctrine of the Church. Although most people […]
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Dana Milbank’s column on abortion in today’s Washington Post: It’s an old tactic—attacking the advocates of both sides of a contentious issue. In doing so, the pundit attempts to seize the mantle of objectivity. But it often doesn’t work, and it certainly didn’t work for Dana Milbank. Milbank […]
Gabe Lyons has constructed a new vision for Christians, a vision that is sustained by the desire to restore God’s Kingdom on earth. However, as we have seen, his vision is not a complete vision, but rather it is a half-vision inflated and masquerading as a whole one. It is as if a man took a […]
The medieval times of 13th century Christendom present a world so different from our own, jam-packed with unique and intriguing characters whose stories are so little known, yet so well worth knowing. I’d recently written a biography of a man from that time called “great” in his own day, Albert the Great, a man who […]
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. (Psalm 33:1) For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and come and pray […]
An old adage tells us that theology is the queen of the sciences, philosophy her handmaid. This means not simply that heavenly wisdom is nobler or more edifying than earthly knowledge. It speaks also of the epistemological importance of the theistic conviction: objective reality depends upon the existence of the Supreme Subject. Philosophy, in the […]
Tension between free speech advocacy and efforts to curb “hate speech” has arisen over the past year as the result of recent initiatives at the United Nations (UN) and by the Obama administration. Freedom of opinion and expression have long been recognized as fundamental, and a recent UN Human Rights Committee “General Comment” affirmed these […]
I hate people, and it turns out that might be a registered trademark. Let me explain. My daughter Kerry talked us into driving down to Lafayette Square [one] Sunday [last month] to get brunch. Lafayette Square is a trendy St. Louis neighborhood where rehabbers live, surrounded by the ghetto on four sides. But once a year all […]
I am attempting to stay up-to-date with the latest advances in bathroom technology, but every time I use the ladies room it is a whole new learning curve. What do I mean exactly? Some places have automatic faucets that turn on when your hands line up within the precise perimeters and a warm spray douses […]
Political systems and popular representation are changing. Movements like the Spanish 15-M, or the American Tea Party are spontaneous movements which indicate that democracy — while a good system of government — is currently in crisis. What this means is that there are some citizens whose voices are not being heard — so they have […]
In His Place I “Ecce Homo!” Pilate pronounced As thunder pealed across the murky sky. While standing still upon the steps I heard the crowd and their chaotic cry Let him die! Let him die! Take him away to crucify! My body was torn by centurions Who flogged my flesh with their violent swing, But […]
A little more than a year ago, I quit my job as a theology teacher at a Catholic high school to become a full-time organic farmer. I like to call myself a “Catholic farmer”, because I am striving to live out the Church’s teachings on marriage and the family, as well as Catholic social teaching, […]
It’s like peeling up the edge of tape. The instant a society places more value on some human lives than others, it’s only a matter of time until that edge has been picked, pried and yanked enough to leave unsuspecting people grieving and wondering what happened to their right to life, liberty and the pursuit […]
