An Interview with Gloria Purvis on the Catholic Response to Racism

June 30, 2021 By Brian Fraga

I recently had a great interview with Gloria Purvis for a special section in Our Sunday Visitor that focused on the nation’s ongoing reckoning with systemic racism a year after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. Purvis, a longtime pro-life speaker and activist who has also been very vocal on issues of racial justice, spoke at length on issues pertaining to racism, the Catholic Church’s somewhat uneven response to the call for racial justice, the deflections that... Read more

Cleared of Sexual Abuse, Chicago’s Father Michael Pfleger Reinstated To Active Ministry

May 25, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Father James Altman was not the only controversial Midwestern priest in the news this week. Father Michael Pfleger, the Chicago priest-social justice activist who is of a decidedly more liberal bent than the arch-conservative Father Altman, has been reinstated to active ministry after an investigation found ““insufficient reason to suspect” that he sexually abused children, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Monday. Earlier this year, the archdiocese received allegations of child sexual abuse against Father Pfleger, the longtime pastor of St.... Read more

Father Altman Vows to Resist His Bishop’s Request That He Resign

May 24, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Credit to Mike Lewis, the editor of the Where Peter Is blog, for breaking the news last night that Father James Altman’s bishop has asked that he resign his position as pastor of St. James the Less Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Lewis transcribed Father Altman’s homily on Pentecost Sunday, in which the controversial outspoken priest tells his parishioners that Bishop William Callahan of La Crosse had asked him to step down this past Friday for being “divisive and ineffective.”... Read more

Jesuit Provincial in China To Become New Bishop of Hong Kong

May 17, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Big news today out of Rome as it’s being reported that Pope Francis has named Father P. Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, a Jesuit, to be the new bishop of Hong Kong. The bishopric in Hong Kong is an important and politically-sensitive position in the modern world, given the fraught state of political tensions in the region, religious freedom in China and the 2018 agreement over bishops appointments that the Holy See struck with China, a deal that has been a target... Read more

Catholics Remember 40th Anniversary of John Paul II’s Shooting in St. Peter’s Square

May 13, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Forty years ago today, St. Pope John Paul II was shot by a would-be assassin in St. Peter’s Square. The spot is marked with where the late pontiff was almost killed on May 13, 1981, by the Turkish gunman Methmet Ali Agca while he was greeting pilgrims as he rode around in the pope mobile. The memories of that day from four decades ago are still quit vivid, as this report in Crux makes clear in great detail: “We didn’t... Read more

Gloria Purvis Returns With Podcast on America Media

May 12, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Gloria Purvis hinted that she had something big in the works when she spoke with me a few weeks back for an upcoming story in Our Sunday Visitor to mark the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. As reported yesterday, what Purvis was up to is a new podcast with America Media; entitled simply “The Gloria Purvis Podcast.” Coming soon! pic.twitter.com/c7j73fIXCc — Gloria Purvis (@gloria_purvis) May 11, 2021 Episodes of Purvis’ podcast will be posted weekly, though no official launch... Read more

Vatican to US Bishops: Not So Fast on Denying Communion to Biden and Pro-Choice Politicians

May 11, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Gerard O’Connell, the Vatican correspondent for America, had a great scoop yesterday in reporting on a new letter that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith sent this month to Archbishop Jose Gomez regarding the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops looking into issuing a document on “Eucharistic coherence” in light of pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden. Basically, the letter – dated May 7 – advises Gomez – in his capacity as USCCB president – that the... Read more

Women Religious Are Speaking Out Against Voter Suppression. Why Not The Bishops?

May 10, 2021 By Brian Fraga

From Catholic News Service: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the National Black Sisters Conference issued a joint statement May 5 on the importance of ensuring that all people enjoy the right to vote “regardless of their race, zip code, economic status or party affiliation.” “As women of faith and faithful Americans, we believe that all people have the right and obligation to participate fully in our democracy,” the sisters’ statement said, adding that they “strongly oppose all... Read more

Catholic League: Biden’s “Border Problem is Exploding.” Is it?

May 7, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Bill Donohue, president at the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, is out with a statement this week that echoes recent Republican criticisms that accuse the Biden Administration of mishandling migration at the U.S. Southern Border. “(Biden) even refuses to call it a crisis. Indeed, neither he nor his border-in-chief vice president has shown any interest in visiting the border,” says Donohue, who as evidence for the crisis cites two public opinion polls from the Pew Research Center... Read more

Facebook Bans LifesiteNews For Spreading COVID Misinformation

May 6, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Already kicked off YouTube for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, the far right outlet LifesiteNews has now been banned from Facebook. LifesiteNews Marketing Director is quoted in an article on the outlet’s website this week saying that the ban was not surprising, and that they had known for months that it was coming: “Facebook has been silencing any voice that goes against their beliefs and agenda,” continued Roberts. “Our LifeSiteNews Facebook page has been removed simply because we... Read more