The Death Penalty Is Wrong But Not Intrinsically Evil or Infallible

Last updated on: August 7, 2018 at 7:49 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

People have been repeatedly saying that Pope Francis changed Church teaching on capital punishment on Thursday. They claim he infallibly declared the death penalty is intrinsically evil. This has two errors, it was neither infallible nor declared intrinsically evil. For reference, the key words in the statement from the Vatican are: The Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and she works... Read more

Capital Punishment: Francis & the Tradition Before Him Are Both Right

Last updated on: August 6, 2018 at 9:32 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

In the past two days, Capital Punishment has been a hot topic. Some claim previous Church teaching was wrong while others saying Pope Francis is a heretic. Neither of these positions holds water. Instead, both have their place to play and work in harmony using a hermeneutic of continuity. As Fr Thomas Petri, OP, noted, “I think Pope Francis’ change further absolutizes the pastoral conclusion made by John Paul II.” Fr Jay Scott Newman seems to agree in principle: “Do not be dismayed... Read more

How to Evangelize on Social Media (Evangelizing Social Media, part 4)

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 3:15 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

I know many people wanted this series to start with evangelizing on social media but I think the other three videos provide a good background. The first video provided a definition and history of social media. How social media affects our mindset was the theme of the second video. The third spoke of how we can evangelize that mindset. Now, we get to online evangelizing itself. Before embedding the video, two notes. This video begins with a question from the audience before the... Read more

Powerful Bishop’s Letter on McCarrick Situation: Calls It “Grave Sin”

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 9:19 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

On Sunday Morning, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger sent a letter to clergy and lay leaders in his diocese of Albany. It deals with the latest sexual scandal in the Church involving McCarrick, although it never mentions McCarrick by name. Some paragraphs are worth quoting and commenting on. He begins by placing the whole letter in the context of the sinful acts of Theodore McCarrick and others. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, many of our faithful are now feeling betrayed... Read more

Face Recognition and “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

Last updated on: July 29, 2018 at 2:19 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

The ACLU recently ran congresspersons’ faces against a database of 25,000 mugshots using Amazon’s facial recognition software and discovered some matches. In a test the ACLU recently conducted of the facial recognition tool, called “Rekognition,” the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime. The members of Congress who were falsely matched with the mugshot database we used in the test include Republicans and Democrats, men and women, and legislators... Read more

Evangelizing the Social Media Mindset & Culture (Evangelizing Social Media, part 3)

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 2:57 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

This third video in my series on Social Media moves to evangelization. In the previous two videos, we’ve discussed social media in general and how it affects us. Now we ask, what is the way to evangelize those people? Since Social Media is now 11% of the average American’s day, that will affect them. If we want to evangelize such a culture, we need to make the Gospel intelligible to this generation, to this culture and society. I hope this video I... Read more

What Does Social Media Do to Our Mind (Evangelizing Social Media, part 2)

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 2:57 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

We all know social media changes our mind, but how does it change our mindset? We’ve all probably heard a story of online bullying or about widely-shared fake news but what drives these behaviors? We know interactions on social media are different from offline, but how are they different? And how does this change us? This is the second video in my series on evangelizing social media and hopefully, it can answer those questions. If you haven’t seen the first... Read more

UK Bioethics Group Approves Genetic Engineering Babies: What’s Wrong With That?

Last updated on: July 18, 2018 at 10:11 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

In the UK, the most prestigious bioethics body has just green-lighted the genetic engineering of children. This has several significant problems. The Guardian reported on their conclusions. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said that changing the DNA of a human embryo could be “morally permissible” if it was in the future child’s interests and did not add to the kinds of inequalities that already divide society. […] “It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” said Karen Yeung,... Read more

Should We Use Technology in Homilies?

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 9:05 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

There has been some debate about the role of technology in homilies. Dioceses might run a video of the bishop in place of the homily or others may be averse to almost any technology in church. I take a slightly more moderated view which Homiletic and Pastoral Review recently published. Here are a few highlights. I want to go a little deeper than matters such as the “effectiveness” or “process” of preaching to focus on the arguments around the homily... Read more

Fundamental Principles of Social Media (Evangelizing Social Media, part 1)

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 2:58 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

People have asked me for a long time to help with their social media. Many people asked assuming there is a quick easy technical fix but this often is not the case. I have made presentations on this topic several times and recorded a version done a few months ago. This version is split nicely into 4 parts and each video is 20-30 minutes with the video interspersed with the PowerPoint slides (editing took me a bit of time and... Read more