I’m hard on the GOP for their long history of not much caring about abortion while pretending to. So it’s only fair that I give John Boehner and his crew due credit for championing the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act“. It remains to be seen if the GOP leadership are really serious or are just pushing it because they know it will be vetoed, so they can posture and look prolife without having to actually do anything. But, as... Read more

…for a dear and beloved priest friend whose mother has had a heart attack and is failing. Father, grant her the grace of a happy death if it is your will that she come to you now and grant grace, peace, and consolation to her family and all who love her. Mother Mary, pray for her and her loved ones. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Read more

Hearing Scheduled on Bill to Shut Down Pregnancy Centers Proving once again that pro-abortion forces don’t like choice as much as they say they do, the Washington state legislature has renewed their effort to shut down the pregnancy resource centers in Washington that offer woman an alternative to abortion clinics. Here’s what you can do: 1) Attend a hearing on Monday, January 24 th , at 1:30 pm in House Hearing Room If you want to attend the hearing, please... Read more

it’s only fair that I quote this today: If there was a moment when the culture of enlightened modernity in the United States gave way to the sickly culture of romantic primitivism, it was when the movie “Star Wars” premiered in 1977. A child of the 1960s, I had grown up with the optimistic vision symbolized by “Star Trek,” according to which planets, as they developed technologically and politically, graduated to membership in the United Federation of Planets, a sort... Read more

…a reader writes: Someone has uploaded a video to YouTube, which contains an excerpt from a BBC radio programme broadcast late last year on the state of the Church in Britain. Unlike the usual BBC fare, this was actually a pretty good programme, presented by a Catholic journalist. I thought you might be interested in giving it a wider circulation, since a) the outrageous situation is not untypical in the UK, yet is unlikely to change absent lay Catholic reaction;... Read more

or “Ilwaco Million Miles for One of Your Smiles“. It’s an awesome poem based on Washington State place names by the immortal Washingtonian Willard Espy.  All Washingtonians should be required by law to learn it. Read more

A reader writes: My new receptionist, a recent convert, has informed me that her 80 year old mother has congestive heart failure and bronchitis. At her age that is a deadly combination and I am asking for prayers on behalf of her mother, Gladys. Father, hear our prayer for Gladys, that she may be completely healed in body, soul, and spirit, that you Name may be glorified through Jesus Christ your Son. Mother Mary and St. Luke pray for her,... Read more

of male-only, celibate reporters, which obviously causes this? Read more

In which we continue our discussion of the Creed, with a little help from Woody Allen. Read more

as Mary Kochan observes. Indeed, human free will is a dogmatic article of faith. It’s just that the Church takes choice seriously, as pro-choicers do not. It says that our choices matter and that they have consequences, including eternal ones. So-called pro-choice people want to pretend that any choice you make is as equally good as any other choice you make. In short, they insist on the dogma that choice doesn’t really matter. The Church, dwelling in reality and not... Read more