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Refugees, Immigration, and Catholic Discourse
I think it might be a general experience that Thanksgiving Day tends to bring extended families together more than even Christmas Day. I’m not sure why this is or whence this came about. My own recollections of Thanksgiving as a kid take me to my grandparents’ basement where two long tables were spread with all the fixings. It…
Tempting Akita’s Fire: AmChurch Wreckovations, Hare Krishnas, and Tokyo St. Ignatius Removes Kneelers
Back in the 90s, I remember seeing images of then Archbishop Rembert Weakland donning a miter that bore an upside down triangle with a rainbow and a rainbow chasuble. During those years, it was common to hear rumors of Churches being “renovated” and the end result being white washed interiors and sanctuaries being leveled and converted…
The “Banquet Celebration” Mass is the Tail Wagging the Kasper Dog
Yesterday, I posted a longish post that got into the problem I see with some of the voices of the recent Synod of Bishops. Particularly, those who seem so concerned with providing a path to Holy Communion for divorced and remarried couples as well as some that wanted to figure out how to get so-called same sex…
Mealy-Mouthed Secularist Prelates and the Attack on Grace
I’ve been biting my tongue through a lot of the synod and the biggest reason has been that I really did not want to pile onto the mountains of doom being dumped into Catholic discussion. Now that the relatio is out, and now that we see what it says, we wait for Pope Francis to put his…
Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ (1948-2015)
This past week saw the passing of another giant of Catholic education and Catholic legal theory: Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ. To those in Catholic academe or in the realm of law, Fr. Araujo was a professor’s professor and a lawyer’s lawyer. His credentials and CV read as if he should be placed in the…
John Paul II and the Synod: Love and Responsibility
It seems appropriate to me that the Synod on the Family in Rome would fall within the novena of St. John Paul II, whose feast day we celebrate today. Although he is known as the Pope whose influence in geopolitical events brought down an empire, he is also the first Pope in the history of the…
St. Teresa in Ecstasy
As I have mentioned in these pages before, 2015 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Teresa of Avila. On the occasion of her feast day, I would like to focus on the image that most people associate her with, the great baroque statue by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Teresa in Ecstasy. The church that…
Catholics Funding “System Change” – CCHD money supporting Soviet Workforce Training
Catholic Campaign for Human Development supports government takeover of education It’s helpful to examine what the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is funding in a given locality. Such an examination provides a small cross-section, with very concrete examples, of where its progressive political advocacy is headed. In the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, CCHD grants,…
Fr. Ciszek and the North American Martyrs: Reflections on Sinfulness and the Love of God
On August 4, 1964, Fr. Ciszek began his annual eight-day retreat in preparation for his final vows, which he would take on the Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, August 15, 1964. The site for this particular retreat was the Shrine of the North American Martyrs (also known as the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs),…
The Overlooked Power of the Maid of Lisieux: St. Therese, Doctor of the Church
A couple of years ago, I was invited to participate in Facebook chat with some highly intelligent, very well educated Catholic men. It remains a mystery to me as to how I included, since I was not even remotely qualified to participate in the discussion. I imagine this is why I cannot recall what the…
