When I was an adolescent, my understanding of faith and politics was developed around the dinner table of my uncle. Several families would routinely get together at his home, and the men would invariably sit and discuss world affairs and the state of the Church, debating their points, reminding each other of Catholic teaching, hammering out…
But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. – Galatians 2:11 It’s been almost a week since the Holy Father’s now-infamous comments about how contraception might be permissible for eugenic purposes (ie., to prevent pregnancies at risk of birth defects due to the alleged…
Was the feminist movement hijacked by the sexual revolution? It remains a hotly contested question and an important one for millions of men and women around the world – because the impact of feminist thinking has a huge effect on the lifestyle choices of each new generation. So is feminism fundamentally a good thing to…
When the Students for Life group at Purdue University tried to draw attention to the disproportionate number of abortions performed within the black community — tying their event into Black History Month — they received a predictably negative reaction. They responded on their Facebook page with a conciliatory explanation. In their statement, they made their intent clear: Regarding…
Dear God, Will you please tell book publishers to stop publishing books about “two homes” for children of divorce? Every time I see one, I want to scream. I know those authors and publishers think they are performing a needed service, but in reality they are whitewashing an extremely painful experience that never ends. Please…
And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. – Mt 9:36 In an interview last month with Asia Times, Pope Francis opined at length about China. China, where Communist policies have ended the lives of roughly 100 million men, women, and children, and where a…
In my life, I have often encountered people who say something like the following to Catholics who love the traditional liturgy—or, for that matter, who wish to see the modern liturgy celebrated in a manner manifestly in continuity with its predecessor: “You’re making too much of incidental things. No matter what form or style, it’s…
“The talk might turn in any direction,” chronicled Warnie Lewis, “[always featuring] the cut and parry of prolonged, fierce, masculine argument and “the rigour of the game.” Later Warnie would chronicle that Out would come a manuscript, and we would settle down to sit in judgment upon it – real unbiased judgement, too, since we…
Last month I wrote an article imagining what would happen if Catholic Church leaders were in charge of Coca-Cola when the company introduced New Coke. I was being tongue-in-cheek, of course, but my goal was to show that failed ideas in the Church are sometimes harder to kill than a horde of zombies. A friend…
“But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil.” – Mt. 5:37 Every parent knows the truth about setting an example. Children are perceptive. They’re wired for subtext. They don’t care about what you say nearly as much as what you do. If you…
A few days ago, when speaking with a close friend, I said, “Pope Francis has been quiet for a while now, but I can feel it coming. A whole new barrage is just around the corner.” Somewhere, deep in my soul, I heard the distant whistle of incoming ecclesiastical artillery. The Vatican war machine appears to be…
