A boy falls and skins his knees. A boy wrestles in the living room and bonks his head on the coffee table. A boy tries to field a ground ball at shortstop, only to take a bad hop that bloodies his nose, or gets plowed by a much bigger boy on the football field. “Boys […]
The night before Pope Francis officially released Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), I was chatting about it with Fr. Dave Dwyer on the Busted Halo radio show. Revealing that he had been able to get his hands on an advance copy, Fr. Dave told me, “You’re going to love it. He says a lot […]
Sperm donation, egg donation and surrogacy: Third party reproduction seems to be a “done deal” in Western society. Even ardently pro-life people do not seem to see the problems. Hey, these techniques are making babies, not killing them. So what could possibly go wrong? A lot of things can go very wrong. Let me describe […]
The four keys to a lasting marriage are faithful, free, fruitful, and total love, as we explain in our newly released book on Catholic marriage. Pope Francis stresses these same four themes in his recent exhortation Amoris Laetitia (Joy of Love). Our last article looked at what the pope had to say about the first key, […]
The early part of the first century A.D.: Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ Herodias harbored a grudge against […]
Reading the full text of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, I experienced the odd sensation that the Pope and I must have been poring over the same exact Church documents for the past two years. The themes of faithfulness, personal freedom, fruitfulness, and total gift of self are woven throughout the Pope’s exhortation, and of course […]
Non-Catholics may be wondering why Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia or The Joy of Love, has Catholics in an uproar. Has the Pope changed Catholic doctrine? Has he left the doctrine officially intact, but changed pastoral practice so much that the doctrine is annulled? Now that I have taken the weekend to read it, […]
Pope Francis clearly stated the need for faithful Catholic education in his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia released on Friday, and warned against any attempts by schools or teachers to impose ideologies contrary to the teachings of the Church, theologian and author Dr. Edward Sri told The Cardinal Newman Society. “Pope Francis went out of his […]
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has become a whipping boy for the advocates of the latest round of the sexual revolution. The Human Rights Campaign has gathered a bunch of business owners to bully the governor in an attempt to get him to back down. “Your bigotry is bad for business,” is their mantra. […]
It was my pleasure to introduce my kids to Kimberly Cook’s delightful little book Mami, Mami, Cuando Rezas — the Spanish-language translation of her book Mommy, Mommy, When You Pray. It provided me with the perfect opportunity to make headway on my New Year’s resolution to teach our kids more Spanish! Mami, Mami, Cuando Rezas […]
One of the hardest things for a parent of a child with special needs is getting that child’s (and his or her own) religious needs met. Kathy Labosh, the parent of two children on the autism spectrum, knows first hand how difficult that battle can be, and she set out to do something about it. […]
Abortion advocates have attempted to lobby and shame pro-life Latin American countries into legalizing abortion for women who may contract the Zika virus. Although it has not been proven that Zika causes microcephaly and other congenital disabilities, pro-abortion groups have nonetheless assumed that it does. Apparently abortion activists think they know more about ZIKV than […]
Georgetown University has defended next month’s lecture by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards by claiming a commitment to “the free exchange of ideas.” Catholic colleges absolutely should expose students to the arguments against Catholic teaching — including those about abortion, contraception and sexuality — but an unfiltered lecture from someone who has no respect for […]
Fruitfulness is one of the essential gifts of marriage. We’re all familiar with God’s words to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gn 1:28). God’s directive to the mother and father of all humanity refers to physical fruitfulness. But Jesus in the Gospels speaks about […]
I remember those Lents when I kept my resolution but still failed in what I set out to do. By giving up chocolate, diet soda, the internet and social media, I emerged from those 40 days slimmer, less addicted to caffeine, and Facebook-free, yet no stronger spiritually. The Lents that drew me closer to God […]
My son called from graduate school, somewhat discouraged. As part of his degree program, he works with ninth graders, spending his days trying to convince jaded 13 and 14 year olds to care about literature. He’s new to the field and discovering that the major struggle in teaching is not making a lesson plan, but […]
The position of maternal health as an international priority has changed a lot in the last twenty years. In 1985, leading medical journal The Lancet published an article titled “Maternal Mortality – A Neglected Tragedy: Where is the M in MCH [maternal and child health]?” Since then, maternal health became a major topic of global […]
My comment was met with a blank stare, a look of confusion. Fortunately, it only lasted a few awkward seconds. I was visiting my nurse practitioner for a nagging abdominal pain. Having concluded that I should have a CT scan (a detailed, in-depth x-ray) she had asked me if there was any chance I might […]
Marital satisfaction tends to take a dip once that first baby comes home from the hospital (or out of the bathtub, birthing center, etc.). This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Let’s face it. Kids, particularly newborns, are difficult. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying, or a grandparent. But you can maintain a happy marriage […]
Robot soldiers, economic meltdowns, robot lovers, and autonomous drones and weapons—these are just a few of the items that make the list of Tech Republic’s “Ten Terrifying Uses of Artificial Intelligence.” But perhaps the scariest is the prospect of an increased reliance on artificial intelligence for medical treatment. Tech gurus are already pouring billions of dollars—not […]
Some years ago I proudly came out of the “monogamy closet.” (See comments here.) Now, after over 42-plus years, my monogamy condition is unabated, in all its forms. I don’t “self identify” as a monogamist. I am a monogamist. Major mass media and Hollywood have had no effect on my ailment, and more than […]
One of the best talks at our Australia conference was given by Vice Vincent Batarelo (pronounced Vee-che), who led the fight in Croatia to defend natural marriage. Dr. Batarelo was also a natural to invite to our conference, since he was born in Sydney to Croatian immigrants and grew up Down Under. After he completed […]
A draft UN report says the family should be understood “in a wide sense” and tries to open the door to recognize same-sex couples in international law and policy. “There is no definition of the family under international human rights law,” according to a report on “protection of the family” prepared by the UN staff […]
The National Catholic Educational Association paints a bleak picture for Catholic education in America. There are currently only 6,568 Catholic schools remaining in the USA. During 2014 an additional 88 schools closed or consolidated, while only 27 new schools opened. About 2 million students attend Catholic schools, of which 328,000 plus are non-Catholic. This is […]
