New Response in the Same-Sex Blessing Controversy
When two people are blessed together, the relationship or partnership is blessed along with the persons.
The Homosexual Mafia in High School Seminary
As a sex abuse victims’ advocate and investigative reporter, I have encountered many cases which led me to conclude that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is the result in part of a seriously flawed seminary recruitment and formation program that prescribes, but does not often enforce celibacy on the part of seminarians,…
The Boy Scouts Still Have Farther to Fall
Twenty years ago, I was happy to enroll my six-year-old son in Cub Scouts. No organization held a higher image in terms of instilling values in boys. The Boy Scouts were never political. They honored God and were strongly patriotic. Organized through our parish, the troop was a fun and active way for boys to…
What Does the Methodist Schism Foretell for Catholics?
On Friday, January 3, leaders of the second largest Protestant affiliation in the United States, the United Methodist Church, announced that, due to irreconcilable differences in moral theology, the competing orthodox and progressive camps within the group were going to formally split. This was not a surprise. The divide had been foretold by a General…
Responding to the Call for the Church to Bless Same-Sex Relationships
This is a question many Catholics (including clergy) are asking, and this topic has contributed to the revealing of an obvious divide among the people of the Church (which is different from the Church as the Spotless Bride of Christ [CCC 789 and 796]). We owe it to our brothers and sisters in Christ to…
Same-Sex Attraction and a Different Kind of Bridge
Editor’s note: This article comes to 1P5 via an anonymous Catholic, whose identity we are protecting at the author’s request. In these confusing times, when so many voices are vying for attention and claiming to give answers to important questions, it can be difficult to hear the authentic voice of Catholic teaching on certain moral…
Rocketman and Vatican Financial Scandal
I really like some of Elton John’s music. I remember listening to his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road when I was about eight years old. I remember being amazed at the fact that it was almost as good as the Beatles albums my older siblings played. Even though I have never been fond of the…
Why John Henry Newman Is No ‘Gay’ Saint
Fr. James Martin, S.J. believes that John Henry Newman may constitute a model of holiness for those with homosexual inclinations. While he draws back from concluding that Newman was certainly “gay,” he wants to proclaim the message that “a gay person (someone with a homosexual orientation, if you prefer) can be holy, even a saint.…
What Keeps Some Catholics from Facing the Modern Church’s Ugliness?
“The mind will protect itself from having to face something intolerable.” As I read a recent article by Rod Dreher, this line in it resonated with me. Perhaps it accessed that part of the attic where my brain stores my psychology studies. The paragraph containing that line begins with a reference to “cognitive dissonance,” a…
The LGBT Conspiracy and Eros, the Demon of Love
It’s become impossible to keep up with the activities of the relentless juggernaut known as the “LGBT community.” Seemingly every day, we see a new story more outrageous and shocking than the last. University professors and children’s book publishers are defending the practice of bringing young children to “Pride” events, not by downplaying their sex-fueled…
Cardinal Cupich’s Selective Justice?
From an April 6 letter, written by Cardinal Blase Cupich, posted at the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website: Dear Parishioners of San José Luis Sánchez del Río, Last August, I informed you of the accusation against your pastor, Fr. Gary Graf, and that, in keeping with our procedures, he was asked to step aside from his…