A Pythagorean writer once expressed the role of civil authority this way: “The monarch has an irrepressible authority (and is therefore not limited by consent); he is a living law; he is like a god among men.” How different America is. Our Founders came here for freedom, a freedom that recognized that no human being […]
The wound comes from well-meaning people. “Well, it wasn’t that far along.” “You can always have another child.” “Lots of people go through this.” Miscarriage is a tragedy that so many people misunderstand. They are not quite sure how to console a friend or relative who has suffered this loss. While there are no magic […]
This week (November 2 – 8) is Vocations Awareness Week. Since I began my full-time work with Priests for Life over 20 years ago, one of the first things I became aware of was that many young people today are finding their vocation precisely because of the Church’s witness to the sanctity of life amidst […]
The church on earth lost a great spiritual leader this past Friday night, October 3. On the very same day that St. Francis of Assisi died back in 1226, a priest who lived and taught the Franciscan spirituality and in fact founded a new community based on that spirituality, was called home to the Lord. […]
The lawsuit of Priests for Life against the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate continues to move forward in the nation’s second highest court. On Tuesday, we filed a supplemental brief with the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals addressing two key developments that have occurred since oral arguments were heard by that court in May. […]
A year from now, believers from around the world will gather with the Pope in Philadelphia to celebrate God’s gift of the family. Marked by the theme Love is our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, this will be the Eighth World Meeting of Families. Established by Saint John Paul II, these regular world gatherings began […]
One of the greatest privileges of my life was to work under Pope St. John Paul II at the Vatican during the late 1990’s at the Pontifical Council for the Family, which fosters the pastoral activities of the Catholic Church on behalf of the family and the right to life. Both in public and private conversation at […]
On Monday, June 30, Priests for Life expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case. Upon further analysis of that decision, we continue to be encouraged by it and by its implications for our own case, which has already been argued in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which could issue […]
Pope Francis and President Obama met in Rome today, and the meeting has naturally generated commentary, both before and after the fact, including by the President himself at the National Prayer Breakfast last month. I am confident that the meeting itself will bear good fruit. I am not so confident that the commentary about it […]
It’s an election year again, and unless we’re careful, we can easily be misled by vague assertions about “the dangers of losing our tax-exempt status.” Let me state categorically from the outset: it’s not going to happen, period. In this current series of columns, we are exploring and exploding some of the myths surrounding “tax […]
The American people are more fed up with the IRS than ever before, and want to see an investigation into the abuses that have been — and continue to be — perpetrated there. This frequent theme of news reports these days intersects perfectly with our ongoing series regarding the position of Churches regarding politics and […]
It’s an election year, and it’s time to open our mouths, in the Church, about politics, candidates, and the right to life. Our fight for our unborn brothers and sisters is a fight for freedom and against tyranny; for people and against oppressive governments. Our Founding Fathers fought this fight, and so must we, with […]
A lot of attention was given recently to the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the way that the Obama Administration wants to force them to cooperate in its plan to expand access to contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization. They are rightly saying “No,” and, like us at Priests for Life, have said it through […]
Christmas is about self-giving love. God becomes human to set humanity free from the oppression of sin and death. Accepting Christ, and celebrating Christmas, means welcoming that freedom, and striving that every human being may experience it. Hence we evangelize. And hence we work for justice. “Truly he taught us to love one another; His […]
It’s Christmas time again, and the Church focuses on the Incarnation, a word coming from the Latin “in carne,” which means, “in the flesh.” Christmas is God in the flesh: no longer only an eternal Spirit who fills the universe, but our brother, whom we can hear, see, and touch. One of the reasons he […]
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), along with a third of his colleagues as co-sponsors, has introduced in the US Senate a bill to protect children from abortion starting at 20-weeks of fetal age (“22 weeks LMP”). The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, has been enacted in […]
As the Director of Priests for Life, known worldwide as a ministry within the Catholic Church that urges more preaching, teaching, and action against abortion, I was asked by many alarmed and confused people these past few days about the reported comments of the Pope that the Church should not be “obsessed” with this issue, […]
The National Day of Remembrance (AbortionMemorials.com) is an effort of prayer and education focused on the approximately thirty locations throughout the United States in which the bodies of children killed by abortion are buried. By telling the stories of these burials and having memorial services at each of these sites, the public is brought to […]
Public opinion about abortion in America can best be described as ambivalent: uncomfortable with unrestricted abortion, yet unwilling to ban it totally. Public opinion has remained pretty stable since Roe vs. Wade. One time it did move was when partial-birth abortion was being debated publicly in the late 90’s. People became more willing to identify […]
The trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell is about much more than the man himself. In a painful way, it brings America face to face with abortion, which, as the defense argued, is “bloody” and “real.” For those who have had abortions, it brings them again in touch with a pain that is never really far […]
Having sat in the Gosnell courtroom and followed this drama from the beginning, I am confident in saying that there is no outcome to the Gosnell case that is not sad and tragic. What is beyond dispute is that Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been deeply involved in an industry that is the most destructive and […]
I spent the day yesterday in Philadelphia at the trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell. The prosecution in the Gosnell murder trial seems to be nearing the conclusion of its work. A small courtroom, able to hold about 70 people, but mostly empty throughout the day, was the site yesterday of this ongoing trial that looks […]
As I write this in mid-March I look forward to soon being with two special families, who because of the depth of their love for a family member, found themselves in the midst of an international spotlight they did not seek, and a fierce conflict they did not shirk. They are the families of Terri […]
If you’re a parent living in one of the 38 states that require an abortionist to notify you or obtain your consent prior to his performing an abortion on your minor daughter, you may think that your rights to know what happens to your pregnant child are protected. Think again. In the other twelve states, […]
