ObamaCare: The View from Down Under

Last updated on: May 7, 2012 at 10:53 am By David Cruz-Uribe

Fr Frank Brennan SJ, professor of law at the Public Policy Institute, Australian Catholic University, has written a thoughtful article on the recent dispute between the Obama administration and the Catholic bishops over religious liberty and the contraceptive mandate. Here is a taste of his conclusions: Here in Australia, our taxes and health insurance premiums undoubtedly help to fund abortions, sterilisations, and the provision of contraceptives at more affordable rates. Most Australian Catholics, including most of our bishops, accept that... Read more

Bishop Morlino, Platteville, and the Rights and Responsibilities of Pastors

Last updated on: May 6, 2012 at 12:37 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

The pastoral crisis in Platteville, Wisconsin, has entered another round. The story was first discussed on Vox Nova in November, 2010. To quickly summarize: Platteville is a small town in Southwestern Wisconsin, part of the Diocese of Madison. In 2010, Bishop Morlino replaced the pastor with two Spanish priests from a small, conservative order (perhaps traditionalist is a better term), the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest. The pastors instituted a number of changes in practice that angered a large number... Read more

Pétéris Vasks: Dona Nobis Pacem

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 3:57 pm By Mark DeFrancisis

Most people today no longer possess beliefs, love and ideals. The spiritual dimension has been lost. My intention is to provide food for the soul and this is what I preach in my works. (Latvian composer Peteris Vasks) This a a performance by the Choeur et orchestre de chambre Estonien, directed by Paul Hillier Read more

Rhetoric, Action, and Cooperation

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 4:22 pm By Nathan O'Halloran, SJ

On this feast of St. Joseph the Worker, it is time to tone down the corporate language of cooperation in evil and instead begin to take personal, active measures towards cutting out in significant ways our own material ties to evil. Let me say this first: I am proud of our Bishops. I am proud that they have made a statement about freedom of religion and the requirement that the government not infringe on that freedom, as I have already... Read more

Von Balthasar and Theological Freedom

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 4:22 pm By Nathan O'Halloran, SJ

As the magisterium continues to try to do its job, something for it, and us, always to remember. Von Balthasar speaks to the need for allowing the necessary freedom for theological reflection to take place: Heresy is an analogical concept. Even if a sharp boundary line is drawn between those heresies that have earned an express judgment of condemnation and those that never met with such a condemnation and thus continue to claim a part of the Church’s heart, still... Read more

Male and Female He Created Them

Last updated on: April 28, 2012 at 8:22 am By David Cruz-Uribe

I’ve been thinking about gender differences recently. The genesis of this was a discussion in my diaconate class about women’s ordination. This led me (eventually) to an on-line essay by Peter Kreeft on women’s ordination and sexual symbolism. The heart of his argument, as best as I can discern, is that To understand this second proposition, we must distinguish “male” from “masculine.” Male and female are biological genders. Masculine and feminine, or yang and yin, are universal, cosmic principles, extending... Read more

Does God Directly Create the Human Soul? Part 1/3

Last updated on: April 26, 2012 at 6:13 pm By Nathan O'Halloran, SJ

Whether in debates about evolution or about pro-life issues, the language of the “direct” creation of the human soul often pops up. Yet this language is very philosophically problematic. The purpose of the next three posts will be first, to lay out the dilemma, second, to present theologian Karl Rahner’s solution, and third, to present theologian Piet Schoonenberg’s solution. I have often heard this language of “direct” creation used in the context of arguments about evolution. In his 1996 address... Read more

Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium

Last updated on: April 25, 2012 at 1:58 pm By Mark DeFrancisis

And who say our contemporary artists cannot compose sacred music on par with the tradition’s stalwarts? Here is the choir of Westminster Cathedral singing Morten Lauridsen’s stunningly beautiful, even glorious setting of O Magnum Mysterium, during Midnight Mass 2009. Read more

Prophecy in the Church

Last updated on: April 23, 2012 at 11:23 am By Nathan O'Halloran, SJ

I have no competence to speak to the recent document from the CDF to the LCWR. Rather, I would like to use it as a springboard to discuss briefly the place of prophecy within the Church. In one place, the document comments about prophetic activity: Some speakers claim that dissent from the doctrine of the Church is justified as an exercise of the prophetic office. But this is based upon a mistaken understanding of the dynamic of prophecy in the Church:... Read more

A Nice, Neat Family of Precisely Two Children

Last updated on: May 3, 2017 at 7:01 pm By Brett Salkeld

Usually if I happen to be talking to another woman – an ordinary woman who has a nice, neat family of precisely two children – the subject of family size comes up. It’s natural: the train of three kids running pell-mell in front of me with a baby gurgling in the stroller is an unusual sight. Are they all mine? Yes. She has only two, but that’s enough. With two, she never has time for herself, never gets the gardening... Read more