Cardinal Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State will be the one heading up the long term discussions with the Chinese authorities about the Catholic Church in China. Most readers will have gathered that in 1957 the Chinese Communist government established the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association–a state approved Catholic Church. Instead of the Russian attempt to stamp out Christianity altogether the Chinese did a Henry VIII number: they tried to eliminate the Catholic Church by starting their own Catholic Church. The... Read more

On Monday fourteen Senators who identify publicly as Catholics voted for late term abortion to be legal in the United States. We should be clear. Late term abortion means the dismemberment of an unborn child, the crushing of its skull and removal from the mother’s body. Usually the child is killed first with a lethal injection, but if it is not, then the science shows that the child feels pain as his arms and legs are ripped off. This morning,... Read more

Yesterday was a day of shame and horror for Catholics in America Fourteen of our senators who identify publicly as Catholics voted against a bill that would outlaw late term abortion. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this barbaric procedure, here is a reminder. Remember the baby feels pain at this stage as he is dismembered. The senators who vote to allow this to continue in America are: Maria Cantwell – Washington Susan Collins -Maine Dick Durbin – Illinois Kirsten... Read more

One of the most common jibes of atheists against religious believers is, “You folks are engaged in some serious fantasy-like wishful thinking. You believe in a magic fairyland beyond the clouds where everyone will one day live in blissful peace, and you believe you will go there one day. You believe in a Santa Claus like mythical being who is your big sugar daddy in the sky who will make you happy by magic. You believe in hell where all... Read more

You can now go to my main blog to listen to the podcast of my homilies week by week. Go here for Sunday’s homily: Citizens of the Kingdom and Fishers of Men. Read more

Ross Douthat has a column at the New York Times today which ponders the priestess of pop religion: Oprah Winfrey. In the fall of 2014, Oprah Winfrey ran a “transformative two-day live event,” a traveling roadshow that was held in eight cities around the country. For this interactive revival-tent experience, she was joined by her “handpicked life trailblazers,” authors and personalities whose work she considered essential for the theme of the roadshow, “The Life You Want.” The trailblazers included, among others, Iyanla Vanzant,... Read more

Some regular readers at Patheos may be wondering what happened to my blog Standing on My Head. Last fall I moved it over to my new website to consolidate all my outreach efforts in one place. I still blog here from time to time, and ten years worth of archived material is still published here at Patheos. However, new material is published every day at Standing on My Head. The new blog website is free and without ads and pop... Read more