Commentary
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Yes, there are other priests—many others, really—whose conduct has been far more egregious, whose public statements have been far more injurious to the faith. Yes, it is painful to see a leading figure in the American pro-life movement disciplined, while others who undermine Church...
What message did Pope Francis send to the American Church by naming Bishop Robert McElroy to the College of Cardinals? How will his latest choices shape the prospects for the next papal conclave? Which other choices deserve a second look, and which prelates were conspicuously absent from the...
Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led...
Vatican II called for active participation by the laity in the Eucharistic liturgy. No one, to my knowledge, disputes that active participation is desirable. The question is: what does “active participation” mean? Let me offer an answer, in a roundabout way. Eighteen years have...
Now that the Supreme Court has officially overturned the wretched Roe and Casey decisions, I think it’s timely to re-post what I wrote in May, when a draft of today’s opinion leaked: Do not accept the liberal narrative that the Court has thwarted the democratic process....
Losers come in many shapes and forms and emerge from unexpected places. The priests and Levites who avoided the wounded traveler in the Parable of the Good Samaritan were members of the Jewish elites, but they were selfish losers. The Samaritan was an apostate Jew. Moved with compassion, he alone...
After years of doctrinal confusion and disciplinary inconsistency, prominent cardinals are clearly growing restive about the leadership of Pope Francis. Today Cardinal George Pell issued a highly unusual public statement, calling for a Vatican rebuke to two other prominent prelates whose...
Four years have passed since Theodore McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals. We are still coping with the aftershocks of the scandal he caused. Moreover—the reason I write about this subject today—we are still coping with the clerical system that allowed that scandal to...
I asked three Catholic publishers—all known for their faithful Catholic work—to give me a short list of their best titles for Lenten reading. I have read some of them myself, and in all cases. the authors are known for their thoroughly Catholic spirituality. These recommendations...
“Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking a rosary out of his pocket] is a Rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of...