An Irish priest may have to return to Ireland by July 1st, since his application for a green card has been denied. (See CNS for more details on the story). Sadly though, parishioners of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church instead of realizing the effects of an immigration system that does not work properly and making them more aware of the problem that affects all immigrants without exception, they cannot understand why Latinos are around but their priest has to... Read more
George Bush in 2004, as witnessed by Ricardo Sanchez, ex-commander of U.S. troops in Iraq: “Kick ass! If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal. There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being... Read more
Southern California is seeing a bit of a vocation boom. Roger Cardinal Mahony ordained twelve men for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles ranging from 29 to 49 in age. That is the largest group for the archdiocese since 1998, and the largest for any diocese in the United States this year. In the Diocese of San Bernadino, six men were ordained by Bishop Gerald Barnes, which is the largest number in its history. To the north, the Archdiocese of San... Read more
Part I Part II Part III We can find a considerable amount of similarity in the way the legends of Constantine and Ashoka are told. Examining them, we can produce a rather simple outline which would tell the basic story of each: a wicked monarch, with some kind of deformity (leprosy for Constantine, physical unattractiveness for Ashoka) was led to a new faith after witnessing a miracle that proved its superiority.[1] After their conversion, they became a representation of righteousness (although, with... Read more
There are two issues with the criticism of Fr. Pfeger. First, should priests be political in the first place? There, I believe they cannot avoid it — after all, all Catholic social teaching is, in some basic sense, political — but should steer clear of partisanship, which — in the US context at least — means endorsing certain candidates. The problem with this approach is that the priest in question will find himself embracing the whole unsavory ideology. This post presents... Read more
Whether we like it or not, the Democratic Party has made legalized abortion a central tenet of its platform. While such a claim is practically a platitude, it is important to note that the Democratic Party addresses legalized abortion not only as an matter of individual liberty, but also a matter of entrenched partisanship. This is what really makes me sick. Straight out of the The 2004 Democratic National Platform for America: (more…) Read more
Read the whole article here (from CNSNews). “An amendment to the Colorado Constitution that defines a ‘person’ as ‘any human being from the moment of fertilization’ will go before state voters in the Nov. 4 general election. If approved by voters next fall, the amendment would guarantee every person, at every stage of life, the right to life, liberty, equality of justice and due process of law. And while the initiative would not make abortion illegal, supporters and opponents alike... Read more
An accusation that we see thrown around a lot, especially around election time, is the charge that Father So-and-So is “being too political,” and that he should “stay out of politics.” The charge is made from either side of the aisle, sometimes directed toward priests who speak out strongly against war, or sometimes against priests and bishops who refuse communion to “pro-choice” politicians. The latest target of this charge, of course, is Fr. Michael Pfleger, whose ministry has been criticized... Read more
Bill Donohue, president of the “non-partisan” Catholic League, decided to inject himself in the Barack Obama/Fr. John Pfleger matter. Do read Donohue’s entire statement. Why Donohue needed to comment on the matter and slam Fr. Pfleger is not at all clear to me. Some thoughts: Fr. Pleger is not as “divisive” as Rev. Jeremiah White. What does the “color of their skin” have to do with evaluating or criticizing the social and theological ramifications of their respective ministries? Does Donohue... Read more
After reading Katerina’s post on Sex and the City and in honor of SATC’s opening debut today, I felt I had to give my two cents on why so many women will be flocking by the millions to see our favorite gals this evening and maybe throwing down a Cosmo afterwards. I have not only read Candace Bushnell’s book which the TV series is very loosely based on, but I have watched every single episode twice of Sex and the... Read more
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