After taking a summer break to write a murder mystery, Patheos’ energetic, creative and passionate kids catechist Lisa Mladinich is back on the job, and she’s got a new booklet full of advice and ideas for those CCD teachers preparing to teach the sacraments! Be sure to check out Lisa’s earlier booklet, which is now also available in Spanish! Sacramental Preparation is at once a collection of powerful teaching methodologies and an urgent plea for catechists to recognize their dual... Read more
Last night was a bit restless: Read more
So, New York’s congressional district #09 is in Republican hands for the first time since 1923 — one of the surest electoral bets in the world just threw craps. As Nathan Detroit might say, “so, nu?” You know this is big, because as soon as it happened, Democrat national chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, “It’s a very difficult district for Democrats.” Suddenly losing the Jewish voters who have consistently voted Democrat over there? Pheh. Darling, it’s not important; it should... Read more
I’m not sure what any of this means in light of today’s breaking news, but apparently, as of yesterday Priests for Life is an International Association The Pastoral Team of Priests for Life announced today that it has formed an International Private Association of the Faithful called the Gospel of Life Association. Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, explained, “Priests for Life has for some time now been a family of ministries. As we have grown and diversified, the work of... Read more
Heard a few whispers about this the other day, but couldn’t mention it because I really didn’t know; seems the story is out: Father Frank Pavone, one of the country’s most visible and vocal opponents of abortion, has been suspended from active ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, over financial questions about the priest’s operation of Priests for Life. The suspension was made public in a Sept. 13 letter from Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek to his fellow bishops... Read more
Over at dotcommonweal, a serious and thoughtful discussion on abortion by three Catholics of slightly divergent views — Dennis O’Brien, Peter Steinfels and Cathleen Kaveny — demonstrate how to talk about abortion like adults: with courtesy, humanity, a bit of breadth and not a clenched jaw in sight — and it is frankly, a very excellent thing. I predict you will not agree with any of them, in totality — nor do I — but I believe you will be... Read more
My column at First Things is not meant to rile anyone, but I am sure some will be riled and for that I am sorry: At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Robert Kennedy—finding kinship with a doomed heroine of fiction—referenced the loss of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, by quoting Shakespeare’s Juliet: When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world... Read more
Having written, the other day about Orwell’s “boot, stamping on a human face, forever”someone emailed this excerpt of a BBC dramatization. The actor looks quite a lot like Orwell, don’t you think? I’d like to see more. Read more
File this under Evil, or The Dignity of the Human Person, and wince while you read this horrific story brought to you by David Mills, over at First Things: Dr. John C. Cutler was a monster. A monster who died after a long and successful life in government and academia, with scholarships and lectures created in his memory. As readers may know, in the mid-1940s he experimented upon poor Guatemalans, including mental patients and orphans as young as nine, trying... Read more
Joseph Susanka, who last week took at look at how the Twin Towers made regular cameo appearances in our cinema and this week about the dualities inherent in heroism has been killing me by sharing videos about 9/11 heroes. This one, and another that I can’t share here, had me weeping like a baby. I’d never heard of Story Corps before, but they do a wonderful job of taking people’s stories — all kinds of people, and all kinds of... Read more
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