Same Sex Marriage Inevitable; Churches Must Seek Legal Protections

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:45 pm By Russell Shaw

by Russell Shaw The likelihood that the Supreme Court next June will announce its discovery of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage raises an obvious question for the Catholic Church: What do we do now? Two steps come to mind. First, press for strong legal protections for individuals and institutions conscientiously unable to cooperate with a legal regime that requires sweeping concessions to the LGBT agenda. Second, give serious thought to the possibility that the Church should quit serving as... Read more

In Politics, Shouldn’t “Adult Conversations” be a Given?

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:45 pm By Russell Shaw

By Russell Shaw I try to take American politics seriously, I really do. Serious issues are at stake, after all. But sometimes, entirely too often in fact, the realities of American political discourse make taking it seriously awfully hard. Considering the seriousness of what’s at stake, this may be what hearing Beethoven’s Ninth performed on the harmonica would be like. A while back Jeb Bush, speaking to a group in San Francisco, promised that if he runs for president next... Read more

A Community of Buoyant Friendship Amid Gathering Clouds

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:45 pm By Zeger Polhuijs

by Zeger Polhuijs This is the second in a series of looks at the works of the Community of Sant’Egidio, in Europe. In the US, the Community of Sant’Egidio can be found in New York, Boston, and Washington DC. In 2012, the popular Algerian singer Khaled released the music video of his hit single ‘C’est la vie’. The video celebrates the positive attitudes and energies of young migrants in Europe; it celebrates diversity, energy, joy, ambition, and friendships and relationships... Read more

On Thomas Merton, a Gratitude Both Priestly and Intellectual

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:46 pm By Fr. Robert Barron

By Very Rev. Robert Barron I write these words on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Merton, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century and a man who had a decisive influence on me and my vocation to the priesthood. I first encountered Merton’s writing in a peculiar way. My brother and I were both working at a bookstore in the Chicago suburbs. One afternoon, he tossed to me a tattered paperback with a... Read more

Why Having a Heart of Gold is Not What Christianity is About

Last updated on: January 25, 2018 at 4:40 pm By Fr. Robert Barron

Many atheists and agnostics today insistently argue that it is altogether possible for non-believers in God to be morally upright. They resent the implication that the denial of God will lead inevitably to complete ethical relativism or nihilism. And they are quick to point out examples of non-religious people who are models of kindness, compassion, justice, etc. In point of fact, a recent article has proposed that non-believers are actually, on average, more morally praiseworthy than religious people. In this... Read more

Sant’Egidio, Amsterdam: The Promise of Possibilities

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:46 pm By Zeger Polhuijs

First in a series of looks at the works of the Community of Sant’Egidio, in Europe. In the US, the Community of Sant’Egidio can be found in New York, Boston, and Washington DC. by Zeger Polhuijs This past Christmas season, the cosmopolitan city of Amsterdam saw another way of celebrating Christmas in the festivities of the Community of Sant’Egidio. An hour after evening mass, the doors of the Moses and Aaron Church were opened to receive about 70 guests, mostly... Read more

Jesus never said, “Don’t worry, it’s just an ideal…”

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 3:46 pm By Russell Shaw

By Russell Shaw Is the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage, including indissolubility, an ideal or a norm? Although the question may sound abstract, even esoteric, it has urgent, immediate practical implications. To say one admires the Church’s teaching as an ideal is, intentionally or not, to undermine that teaching in the act of admiring it. Here is the key to understanding a struggle that surfaced at last October’s Synod of Bishops on marriage and is likely to continue at the... Read more

The “Throwaway Culture” Has Arrived at Our Doorstep

Last updated on: January 22, 2015 at 2:56 pm By Guest Contributor

By Bishop Thomas Tobin Pope Francis has frequently used the phrase “throwaway culture” to lament the very casual way in which we dispose of unwanted members of the human family when they’re deemed burdensome, inconvenient or useless. While the Holy Father has applied this theme to a number of situations, it seems especially fitting to consider its relevance to abortion, particularly as our nation observes the 42nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the horrible Supreme Court decision that rendered abortion... Read more

Western Volunteers Support the Kurds via The Lions of Rojava

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 12:36 pm By Guest Contributor

1 Comment

by Max Lindenman If you want to help the Kurdish people and fight IS, the Lions of Rojava are hiring. Just check Facebook. With the motto “It’s better to live one day as a lion than thousands of days as a sheep” — an unattributed paraphrase from Mussolini — the Lions of Rojava make up a sort of foreign legion within the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units or YPG, which operate against IS in Syrian Kurdistan. Hundreds of Westerners, including more... Read more

What Francis Won’t Say About the Environment Can Open Doors for Catholics

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 at 12:20 pm By Guest Contributor

by Jennifer Roback Morse Pundits Left and Right have been jockeying for position in anticipation of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. This is quite amazing, considering that even the publication date has not yet been announced. I do not know what he is going to say. Neither, dear reader, does anyone else whom you are likely to read. However, I can tell you two things that he will certainly NOT say. And those two unsaid things have the potential... Read more