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• February 03, 2012 3:45 PM HHS mandate might awaken the sleeping Catholic conscience By Phil Lawler

  "In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences," said New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan about the Obama administration’s new

Displaying 40 most recent blog posts.

• January 27, 2012 1:41 PM Declining birth rates make the Islamic world more dangerous By Phil Lawler

  David Goldman, who writes online under the pseudonym Spengler, has a new book out: How Civilizations Die: (And Why Islam Is Dying Too). While I haven’t yet read the book, I recently happened

• January 27, 2012 12:55 PM Chastity, seen as a threat By Phil Lawler

  Do you see what’s wrong with this lede from a news story in the Toronto Sun? Catholic school students deserve protection from bullying based on sexual orientation, but the publicly-funded

• January 26, 2012 1:56 PM Demand action—not just rhetoric—on school choice By Phil Lawler

  This week is School Choice Week. Since it’s an election year, it’s also nearly time for Republican candidates to proclaim their devotion to the cause of school choice. In every

• January 24, 2012 2:07 PM The Mitch Daniels moment By Phil Lawler

  Many months ago, looking at the way the presidential race was shaping up, I made a prediction. I said that Mitt Romney would be the overwhelming Republican favorite—right up until the voting

• January 20, 2012 3:17 PM Obama team gives religious freedom a combination punch By Phil Lawler

  This is a one-two punch against religious freedom: The Obama administration refuses to exempt religious institutions from a new rule requiring contraceptive coverage in health-care plans, but

• January 20, 2012 1:19 PM Pope & US bishops team up to put religious freedom on the political ag... By Phil Lawler

  On Thursday, Pope Benedict warned visiting American bishops that religious freedom is being threatened in the United States. By the end of the day, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

• January 19, 2012 6:42 PM The Pope's alarming message on American religious freedom By Phil Lawler

  Is it humiliating for American political leaders to read that Pope Benedict sees an erosion of religious freedom in our country? It should be. If there is one boast that Americans have

• January 13, 2012 3:40 PM Now why does that sound familiar? By Phil Lawler

  When Andrew Brown wrote in the Guardian, chastising the Reuters news service for a slanted report on the Pope’s “State of the World” speech, L’Osservatore Romano was

• January 12, 2012 12:05 PM On same-sex marriage, who are the real ‘extremists’? By Phil Lawler

  Last weekend in New Hampshire, during a debate among the Republican presidential candidates, host George Stephanopoulos asked—and asked, and asked, and asked—a question about

• January 06, 2012 6:28 PM On birth and death and debt and hope: a last-minute Christmas meditati... By Phil Lawler

  Before the Christmas season ends, let me call your attention to an excellent column by that excellent columnist, Mark Steyn. Writing just before Christmas, Steyn made the observation that the birth

• January 05, 2012 3:49 PM Ten Years Later, the Church in Boston Struggles to Recover By Phil Lawler

  Ten years have passed since the Boston archdiocese was engulfed in scandal, as the result of investigative reporting by the Boston Globe. Today the faithful in Boston are still struggling to shake

• December 29, 2011 11:39 AM The diminishing value of Bishop Spong’s evolving Bible By Phil Lawler

  Retired Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong, who has made a career of rejecting fundamental Christian doctrines, takes aim at some “misconceptions” about the Bible in a CNN

• December 26, 2011 1:01 PM Units of liturgical measurement By Phil Lawler

  Does your computer have one of those convenient functions that provides instant conversion of various units of measurement: length, weight, area, volume, temperature, etc? If so, maybe you could

• December 20, 2011 5:55 PM What entrepreneurs should learn from Blessed John Paul II By Phil Lawler

  In an era of global enterprise, when some overweight financial firms are deemed “too big to fail,” how should an honest Christian entrepreneur behave? Can the abstract principles of

• December 19, 2011 5:53 PM The headlines say we should be worried about the Pope's health. Why? By Phil Lawler

  This past weekend, dozens of stories appeared in the English-speaking media, reporting that the health of Pope Benedict XVI is slipping. Most of the headlines referred to the same AP report, and the

• December 15, 2011 3:03 PM How Catholics might advance the debate on immigration By Phil Lawler

  Since the appearance of my comment on the need for clarity in the debate on immigration, several readers have written to say that immigrants living in the US are not “criminals,” since

• December 13, 2011 12:41 PM Clarity, please, on illegal immigration By Phil Lawler

  In the letter to immigrants signed by 33 Hispanic American bishops, one sentence cries out for editorial amendment: Despite your contributions to the well-being of our country, instead of receiving

• December 09, 2011 5:39 PM The Pill for nuns? Here's a better idea By Phil Lawler

  Two Australian researchers have captured public attention with their suggestion that Catholic nuns should take birth-control pills—for the sake of their health! The argument, put forward in

• December 09, 2011 5:38 PM Theologians demand respect from bishops: a one-way street By Phil Lawler

  The College Theology Society (CTS) sees a rift in relations between theologians and Catholic bishops. They blame the bishops, naturally, because it’s a well-known principle that if there are

• December 06, 2011 5:47 PM What the media don't tell you and when they don't tell it By Phil Lawler

  If ever there was a day when secular news coverage provided a lesson in the need for a reliable Catholic perspective on the news, today was that day. Consider: A CNN post bore the headline: Federal

• December 01, 2011 5:01 PM Why liberal liturgists dislike the new translation By Phil Lawler

  From all available indications, the new English translation of the Mass has been received quietly. The faithful have not rebelled—much to the dismay of those who have spent months fighting a

• November 30, 2011 3:02 PM The troubling rise of 'Msgr. CB' By Phil Lawler

  Let’s suppose that in the town where you live, a mid-level manager at the largest local corporation was arrested. Let’s say that he was caught in a neighborhood known as a homosexual

• November 23, 2011 5:45 PM The ideal Thanksgiving dinner By Phil Lawler

  Turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce are essential; the rest is negotiable. Pecan pie, apple pie, or pumpkin pie? Whatever you prefer; you can’t go wrong. But that’s not what I mean.

• November 23, 2011 4:12 PM Downsizing won't save the Irish hierarchy By Phil Lawler

  According to the Irish Catholic, the Vatican is considering a radical reform of the Irish hierarchy, perhaps calling for the elimination of half of the country’s 26 dioceses. George Weigel

• November 21, 2011 2:06 PM Cardinal Law replaced: the Vatican has sent a message By Phil Lawler

  There’s something very curious about the replacement of Cardinal Bernard Law in his post at a Roman basilica. Cardinal Law is no longer the Archpriest of St. Mary Major basilica. That much is

• November 16, 2011 4:23 PM A simple solution to unauthorized parish vigils By Phil Lawler

  In the Archdiocese of Boston, plans to close and sell parish churches have been stymied by disgruntled parishioners who have been holding vigil at several churches. This week one such vigil came to

• November 16, 2011 11:36 AM Another overdue resignation By Phil Lawler

  Yesterday a minor detail in a CWN news story caught my eye. During his visit to Benin this weekend, the story reported, Pope Benedict XVI will visit the tomb of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. The

• November 15, 2011 5:06 PM Are the US bishops gearing up for a lawsuit against HHS? By Phil Lawler

  If you read one day that the US bishops’ conference had filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration, would you be surprised? Don’t be. You already know (if you’ve been paying

• November 11, 2011 3:58 PM Christian Social Services of Illinois: martyrs need not apply By Phil Lawler

  Remember the Maccabees? And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land…[1 Mac 1:44] Mattathias

• November 11, 2011 11:50 AM Penn State sends a message. US bishops, take notice. By Phil Lawler

  At Penn State, a month after the revelation of a sex-abuse scandal, four top executives have been ousted. In the American Catholic hierarchy, a decade after the exposure of hundreds of sex-abuse

• November 09, 2011 6:11 PM The Pope's aching joints; the Vatican's odd silence By Phil Lawler

  Today CWN passes along the report that Pope Benedict suffers from a degenerative joint condition in his legs. Although I am sorry for his suffering, I must say that I’m relieved. The news

• November 09, 2011 10:32 AM The Personhood Initiative: Mississippi voters fail a reality check By Phil Lawler

  Yesterday the people of Mississippi voted not to amend their state constitution to declare that human life begins at conception. Nevertheless the scientific fact remains: Human life begins at

• November 03, 2011 4:43 PM An intriguing episcopal appointment. Next: an overdue resignation? By Phil Lawler

  The Vatican announced one intriguing appointment yesterday. I hope that another significant appointment is announced tomorrow. Father Charles Morerod was named on November 3 to become Bishop

• November 03, 2011 12:22 PM Learning to be grateful while the lights are out By Phil Lawler

  During this week I have had daily—no, hourly—reminders of how much we comfortable Americans take for granted, and how many things we should be grateful for. I hope I remember them all at

• October 28, 2011 6:24 PM Did Bishop Finn deserve indictment? By Phil Lawler

  Two weeks have passed since the indictment of Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn. The bishop’s critics are demanding his resignation, while his defenders protest his innocence. Let’s

• October 25, 2011 8:28 AM Spare us from Vatican economic analysts By Phil Lawler

  The Catholic Church does not claim teaching authority on matters of economics and finance. When the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issues a statement on the world’s financial

• October 24, 2011 3:11 PM Time to start worrying about the Pope's health? By Phil Lawler

  Last week I advised CWN readers not to waste time worrying about the news that Pope Benedict was towed down the aisle on a rolling platform when he celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s basilica. It

• October 19, 2011 3:33 PM Needed: a sense of urgency about religious freedom in US foreign polic... By Phil Lawler

  Not a single Christian church remains standing in Afghanistan. A decade ago, American troops began a military campaign in that country to oust the oppressive Taliban regime. Well, the Taliban have

• October 12, 2011 9:01 PM A simple rule of journalism: It's not news until it happens By Phil Lawler

  On October 12, L’Osservatore Romano posted an article with this revealing subtitle: The following are excerpts from the conference to be held in Rome on 13 October in Palazzo Luchesi,

• October 07, 2011 3:04 PM Survey results: the Pavone controversy By Phil Lawler

  Early this week we wrapped up an informal survey in which we asked Catholic Culture readers about their perception of the controversy involving Father Pavone and Priests for Life. Among the readers