On January 25, 2012, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution setting the following, “Euthanasia, in the sense of the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit, must always be prohibited.” The purpose of the resolution (n°1859/2012) entitled “Protecting human rights […]
I was chatting with a priest who is a judge with the marriage tribunal of his large Eastern diocese when he shared an interesting tidbit of information. In his diocese and the other dioceses of his state, the number of requests for marriage annulments has lately fallen by 10%. Good news? Fewer marriages on the […]
I don’t think anyone would argue with the notion that in order to learn any new skill, you need to have the ability to be obedient. For example, if you want to learn how to do the fox trot, or tango, chances are you would register for classes and obey the instructor. You would do what […]
Earlier this month, a 32-year-old pregnant woman, known only as Mary Moe, narrowly avoided being subjected to a forced abortion and sterilization–at the hands of her own parents. The story has outraged thousands on either side of the political aisle. Moe, who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar mood disorder, was being treated in a Massachusetts […]
I was asked for my initial reaction to President Obama’s State of the Union speech, and the handsomely redesigned Think Christian posted them last night, “Jobs, Steve Jobs, and the State of the Union.” As I point out, the president’s protectionist posturing is belied by the realities experienced by companies like Apple. The president is essentially telling companies: Ask […]
The battle is not yours but God’s. (2 Chronicle 20:15) So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling […]
Has there ever been a time when one group of people openly exposes its animosity for another group of people—even as this second group not only ignores the animosity, but speaks well of, enables, and legitimizes the first group? Welcome to the 21st century, where Western politicians empower those Muslims who are otherwise constantly and […]
What’s more newsworthy: that several hundred thousand people converged on Capitol Hill in the midst of a cold rain in the middle of January in order to protest abortion, or that a tiny handful of pro-abortion counter protesters showed up as well? Here’s another question: are attendees at the March for Life primarily young, vibrant, […]
In recent days there have been a lot of media reports about Hungary. According to those reports, the country not only is in a very bad shape economically, but there is also a risk that the Government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was trying to overturn democracy and install a right-wing dictatorship that is […]
My dear daughter, I know that you feel like no one can possibly understand the way you feel right now. You think no one has ever felt this way. You feel alone. You look around and see couples and feel like the “odd man out.” What you fail to see are all the other young […]
On January 21st, I attended a terrific conference in Framingham, MA concerning “The Persecuted Church.” When I say terrific, I mean the full, riveting, appalling sense of the word. Sponsored by CAMERA, the speakers ranged from young participants of the “Arab Spring” protests to sage professors to political operatives. The event culminated in a keynote address […]
Shortly before Newt Gingrich’s decisive victory in South Carolina last week, he was asked a critical question by a Palmetto State voter: Would he support a Muslim candidate for president? The former Speaker of the House answered in a way that was both characteristically insightful and profoundly helpful with respect to one of the most […]
Today was the funeral of a dear family friend and my mentor of many years. I couldn’t attend Fr. Jonathan’s funeral, because it was held in Germany where he’s been stationed since 2009. He’s buried there, too, in his community’s cemetery near their Schoenstatt Fathers house and world headquarters. During the hours of the funeral […]
The citizens of several countries are pushing back against President Obama’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender foreign policy imperative. Leaders in El Salvador launched a website on “Obama’s Corrupting Foreign Policy” and are asking the U.S. Senate to reject Obama’s nominee for ambassador to their country. President Obama announced in December that the promotion of […]
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” No doubt this truism was at the top of Newt Gingrich’s mind as he responded to John King’s lead off question in the CNN Republican debate in South Carolina last week. Marianne Gingrich, the second ex-wife of thrice married Newt, alleged in an interview with ABC News […]
After initially intending to complete this series in three parts (Part I, Part II, Part III), it appears that it may be useful to tie up any remaining loose ends with an overview of the propositions put forth in the Declaration on Religious Liberty of Vatican II, followed by Fr. Murray’s own reflections dated the […]
It’s a harmless phrase, really. Many an expectant parent has said it: “We’re happy as long as he’s happy and healthy.” Well intentioned and true, no doubt. Who doesn’t want their child to be happy and healthy? Pregnant women forgo champagne toasts on New Year’s Eve, take prenatal vitamins with DHA and folic acid and […]
We mothers are a “Jane of all trades.” My skills have been evolving for decades now. I didn’t start off knowing how to cut and style hair for instance, but I have become quite good, in my own estimate, and am now allowed the great honor of cutting two of my adult sons hair. This […]
“People ask me, ‘What will convert America and save the world?’ My answer is prayer.”–Blessed (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta The battle is on… got your weapon? It’s no secret that our beloved country is entrenched in an intense struggle. It’s a war between the culture of life and the culture of death; between economic stability […]
At adoration last week, I prayed a rosary for a dear friend who recently lost a baby eight weeks into her pregnancy. My heart breaks for her. As I prayed in the quiet chapel, my heart became even heavier thinking about the loss of our own pregnancy at 13 weeks, around this time in 2006. […]
Unexpected things happen all the time but certain things have the power to convey a message to the collective psyche of a nation. Less frequently there are events that can alter the course of human affairs on a planetary scale. The killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand that ushered a century of unspeakable violence was one […]
Today, hundreds of thousands of pro-life people gathered in Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life, commemorating the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that struck down existing state laws protecting unborn children. For those who have been on the March or seen footage of it on EWTN (you can hardly […]
An international commission committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Americas recently published two reports that challenge laws protecting life from conception in both North and South America. One report published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights denies physicians the right to conscientiously object to performing an abortion, while the […]
I was a student at Saint Louis University School of Law when I learned of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v.Wade. It was in a class taught by the late Gerald T. Dunne. Dunne was a biographer of Supreme Court Justices Joseph Story and Hugo Black; he was a decorated Navy veteran of World War II (Silver […]
