Simon was a sorcerer, a rather famous and successful sorcerer. Evidently, Simon was also at heart an honest man. When he encountered St Philip, preaching the Gospel and doing great works in Jesus’ name, Simon didn’t, as the idol maker for the goddess Diana later did to St Paul, rile up a crowd and try to get Philip killed. What Simon did instead, was convert. But Simon’s conversion was much like yours and mine. It was incomplete and lacking in... Read more
Clergy sex abuse scandals are not limited to Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals. The Southern Baptists have been grappling — and failing to deal with — their own clergy sex abuse. I can attest from my time in several denominations through the years that the problem is a real and present danger in all of them. It would be simple to take the militant atheist view and claim that religion itself, or maybe just Christianity, is the cause of the... Read more
Pope Francis is worried that so many young people are avoiding marriage, and rightfully so. There are many reasons for this, quite a number of them having to do with economics, while other reasons are more cultural and social. Pope Francis’ prayer intention for June is directed specifically at this reluctance of young people to choose the home/life/community building commitment of Holy Matrimony. Is it true, what some people say—that young people don’t want to get married, especially during these... Read more
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus Christ Jesus said quite a lot about politics, but religious leaders tend to ignore all of it. I think they ignore it is because it doesn’t fit with the fact that, however much religious leaders may try to deify themselves, they are just fallen human beings, living in a fallen world. As such, they are prey to all the same desires, ambitions and... Read more
When you are dealing with an international organization that has a proven record of corruption that runs from the top to the bottom of the organization and has continued for decades in every organizational location around the globe, you are not dealing with an organization with a few corrupt individuals. You are dealing with a corrupt organization. Rebecca Hamilton The “organization” I’m talking about is the Catholic Church, and the corruption is the generational, endemic, world-wide, systematically supported, aided, abetted... Read more
The McCarrick Report said what we already knew. The Catholic Church is guilty of systemic, pervasive, from-the-pope-down enabling, supporting, and yes, participating in, sexual abuse, rape, sodomy, of every description. The victims are anybody and everybody. Priests, bishops and cardinals have raped, abused and sodomized everybody they come into contact with, including very young children, teens, seminarians, nuns, people who go to them for counseling and each other. If it’s got a pulse, there’s a guy wearing a collar who... Read more
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,... Read more
Misogyny is a terrible sin. The sin of clerical misogyny is the sin of the priesthood. It is, in particular, the bishops’ sin. I know quite a number of Catholic women who are suffering painful alienation from their Church because of the sin of misogyny which is committed against them and against all women by the bishops and by various priests. The sin of misogyny is a generational evil that goes back long before the beginning of the Church. It... Read more
When I was in office, I helped organize a Day of Prayer for an End to Violence Against women. Several groups, including Catholic Charities of Oklahoma, participated in this. My bishop, Archbishop Beltran, stepped right up to participate. We got the leaders of all the organized denominations in Oklahoma to come to the capitol for a lunch and sign a pledge against violence against women. Archbishop Beltran authored a pastoral letter on the human rights of women. I have the... Read more
President Joe Biden has been out-front and publicly pro choice for decades. In all that time, the American Catholic bishops have never excommunicated him. Now that he is president, they are suddenly making noises about how Joe Biden is causing “scandal” and, for that reason, should be denied the Eucharist. They are huffing and puffing and winding themselves up for a really big political blow in which, at long last, they fire their spiritual cannon at the president. In normal... Read more
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