Pope Francis recommends that we deal with people of ill will who seek to destroy and create division by prayer and with silence. From America Magazine: “The truth is meek. The truth is silent. The truth is not noisy,” Pope Francis said in his homily. He was commenting on the Gospel story of the day from Luke that describes how Jesus reacted when he returned to Nazareth and met with opposition from his former neighbors after commenting on a passage... Read more
Pope Francis attempted to explain the controversial “provisional agreement” between the Vatican and China during his General Audience today. From Vatican News: Pope Francis urged for prayers that the Provisional Agreemen between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China on the appointment of Bishops in China, may help heal past wounds and foster full communion Good of Chinese Catholics “The Agreement,” the Pope explained, “is the fruit of a long and thoughtful path of dialogue, aimed at fostering... Read more
Hospitals in areas that serve large numbers of poor people run into higher readmission rates. That’s a fact of life that has far more to do with the circumstances of the patient’s lives than it does with the care they are receiving in the hospitals. When a hospital discharges, say, a patient who was suffering from an acute asthma attack, it is usually after they have administered drugs and treatments to get the asthma under control. If they attack was... Read more
Christianity in the wild is a revolutionary force and the enemy of tyrants everywhere. That is why totalitarian governments and dictators work so hard to either eradicate Christianity or domesticate it into some vapid, politically-controlled and bribed fake christianity that knows not Christ. China is using both methods at once in dealing with its 60-million-and-growing Christian population. The domestication part is taking place in its negotiations with the Holy See. The Catholic Church has a real weakness in its witness... Read more
I’ve been asked several times why I stay Catholic in the face of 20 years of dark scandal involved deep failures on the part of the priesthood, the bishops, and as has recently come to light, the papacy going back at least to Pope Paul VI. This column, which I wrote for the National Catholic Register, is answer. I’ve been treading water ever since the Church sex abuse scandal started touching the Throne of Peter. I won’t go into all... Read more
Cancer treatments are poison. The big problem with killing cancer lies in the fact that your cancer is you. It is your own cells gone rogue. That means the anything that kills the cancer can — and will, if it’s not used very carefully — kill you. It also means that even when it is used very carefully, it will still be killing you. The trick — and it is a trick — is to give the poison that kills... Read more
The Vatican has signed its “provisional agreement” with China. From The Washington Post: The Vatican said on Saturday that it had reached a “provisional agreement” with China on the process used to appoint bishops, a breakthrough after years of contentious negotiations on the management of Catholic leadership in the communist country. The deal paves the way for bishops to be recognized by the Vatican and the Chinese government, a step toward ending the current system — one that has divided... Read more
Christian persecution by Boko Haram, a muslim terrorist group, is intense in Northern Nigeria. Read more
An anonymous I’m-on-the-inside-subverting-the-President New York Times piece made me gag. The New York Times recently published an anonymous Op Ed piece that it says was written by someone high in the Trump administration and inside the White House. The author of the piece details why he and other staffers are using their positions to subvert the president and essentially govern the country themselves through lies and charade. This person intones that he or she feels that some of the things... Read more
Pope Francis’ prayer intention for September is for young people in Africa. From Vatican News: Africa is a wealthy continent, and its greatest, most valuable resource is its young people. They should be able to choose between letting themselves be overcome by difficulty or transforming the difficulty into an opportunity. The most effective way to help them in this choice is to invest in their education. If young people don’t have the possibility of education, what future can they have?... Read more
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