Essays
Creating a Civics Course
This year I have the pleasure and honor of teaching a Civics course to a group of high school seniors at Saint Agnes School in St. Paul, MN. I suspect that most Civics courses around the country are taught in a way that overemphasizes modern political attitudes and delivers very little about what it means to…
Helen Gurley Brown — With A Twist
Dawn Eden has an interesting piece on the Cosmo Girl’s decadence, and a curious and hopeful turn at the end of her life. On a societal level, the fallout from the Cosmo philosophy helped turn modern Western society into what John Paul II described in his “Letter to Families” as a “culture of use,” where…
Bravo Bishops!
Bishop Paul S. Loverde, of Arlington Virginia,recognizes with Pope Benedict XVI that in recent years Catholics have often been poorly catechized. So in his diocesan newspaper this week he explains his recent decision “to have all of the diocese’s catechists and teachers of religious education make a public Profession of Faith” — a decision which…
Where Is Catholic Charities USA?
The usual suspects are mocking pro-lifers mercilessly because an obscure politician garbled a sentence in a TV interview (so that’s news??!!). Yet the issue has now been raised — what will become of the children of women who are raped? Why shouldn’t they be aborted? Apart from all the other back-and-forth, why haven’t the bishops,…
We Have No King But Caesar
“Fundamental rights” seems to be a preoccupation with Americans and, increasingly, people all over the world. Sometimes the adjective “fundamental” is not appended to the term “rights,” but there is a preoccupation all the same. When asked to define in general what a “right” is, I’m not sure that those who wish to secure such for themselves…
Reasons to Pay Attention to Solzhenitsyn, Mindszenty, and Ciszek
The excellent Catholic blog Rorate Caeli has a piece on the 4th anniversary of the death of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. The author of the piece takes the opportunity to praise Solzhenitsyn and others within the Soviet Union for their heroism in standing up to the godless Communist regime. Similarly, he takes to task the Fathers of the Second…
Implementing Humanae Vitae: Good Women Religious Are Leading The Way!
In my hometown, and right down the road from Bellarmine Forum president Charles Rice, the Franciscan Alliance, which operates 14 hospitals in Indiana and Illinois, is leading the way. As of July, the alliance began offering a natural family planning benefit to all employees– the result of a suggestion from the employees themselves! Of interest: Franciscan…
The State says in its heart, ‘There is no God’
I recently attended the third annual Canon Law Conference for Canonists and Civil Attorneys hosted by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Truly, it was an excellent conference made all the more so by the opportunities for spiritual refreshment and prayer at arguably the…
The Obamacare Decision: A Fix By Voter Fraud
THE OBAMACARE DECISION: A FIX BY VOTER FRAUD By Charles E. Rice Section 455 of the United States Code provides: Any justice, judge or magistrate judge of the United State shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances: xxxxx (3)…
Farm Subsidiarity and Obama
The wizards of smart in the Obama administration never cease to amaze. By now all thinking Catholics should realize that this administration is anything but friendly to the Church or her doctrines. Yet some still support the President claiming that his initiatives are consonant with Catholic Social Doctrine. Now comes the latest assault on common…
