Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table Catholic Women Speak Network New York: Paulist Press, 2015 At this moment Church leaders are gathering in Rome for the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place from October 4-25, 2015. Building on the themes of last year’s meeting, this synod will discuss the issues of family life within the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, there is currently another group gathering in Rome – one that will... Read more
Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children? We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them... Read more
There is a timely yet potentially endangered bill making its way from the House to the Senate, intended, as its name suggests, to protect the pain-capable unborn past 20 weeks. (It is not my purpose here to analyze the bill at length, but as an aside it is interesting to note that the rape and incest exceptions still require an attempt to allow the survival of the child.) While protection of the vulnerable is always timely, this is particularly so in... Read more
This is something of a companion piece to my post this morning about Pope Francis and welcoming refugees. An article appeared a couple days ago on Crux about Muslim refugees converting to Christianity. I post this since I first saw it on a Facebook feed from one of my friends. The people commenting on the article seemed initially horrified by it. (I went back to check the discussion and check on what was said, but could not find it: curse... Read more
In an appeal following his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Francis called on Catholic Churches throughout Europe to respond to the refugee crisis in Europe by taking in refugee families. His remarks are being widely reported (e.g. here at CNA/EWTN) but the full text of his remarks are only available in Italian from the Vatican. Below I have posted a quick English translation. (more…) Read more
It has only been two days since the international news media broke the story that, during the upcoming Jubilee Year, Pope Francis will grant Catholic priests permission to forgive women who have had abortions and physicians who have carried them out. This news is already making many waves throughout the Church and beyond. Pro-choice Catholics and the liberal secular media are rejoicing at this news while arguing that it does not go far enough to change the Church’s stance on women. Meanwhile, some... Read more
GIVEN THE IMMENSE SACRIFICES of our military men and women over the last 14 years, it is customary for civilians, both prominent and ordinary, to say “thank you for your service.” It is fitting and proper that we should do so. The sacrifices they have made, in blood, pain and sanity, ought to entitle them to our undying gratitude. It has occurred to me lately, however, that there are those who serve us closer to home, and that they, too,... Read more
Vox Nova is pleased to welcome a guest post by T. Renee Kozinski. She has her Masters in the Liberal Arts from the Graduate Institute of St. John’s College, Annapolis, and is a teacher, poet, and artist. She is an online tutor with Great Books Discussions. A recently published article by Benedict Constable at OnePeter5 attempts to provide premises for the conclusion that women lectors fly in the face of not only Sacred Scripture and Catholic Tradition, but also the... Read more
I can remember as a preteen and teenager in the 90’s when I made my first efforts at following current events. What struck me as even more disturbing than the evils of this world was the apparent indifference adults expressed to them. Some horrible thing would happen – a bombing in the Middle East, more lives lost in former Yugoslavia – and life would continue on. Even in history classes, our teachers would carry on with the usual lessons, not... Read more
Last year I published three articles on the virtue of modesty: the first deconstructing the rhetoric surrounding it in terms of the feminist theory of the “male gaze”; the second on modesty and humility, challenging one traditionalist interpretation of modesty; the third on the im/modesty of mixed gender wrestling. (I guess this is a topic which interests me a lot.) This particular round of posts was started by a video posted by Kyle Cupp entitled “Virtue makes you beautiful“, a... Read more
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