Analysis and Comment

Why the Catholic Church can’t put the clergy sex abuse scandal behind it

Monday, September 13th, 2021
clergy sex abuse

A day of reckoning for a once-powerful prince of the Roman Catholic Church had finally come. Frail and 91, former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was arraigned last week on charges that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy at Wellesley College in the 1970s. As startling and historic as that event may be, it’s years too late Read more

Authentic alternative needed to our individualist culture

Monday, September 13th, 2021
individualistic culture

“On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers”. In 1799 this seminal blast against rationalist critiques of Christianity appeared in English, written by a German theologian with the improbable name of Schleiermacher, or veil maker. It is ironic that we seem to be right back there today. And I’ve really had it. I’m sick to the Read more

Afghanistan’s clear lesson: ‘War is not the answer’

Monday, September 13th, 2021
Ukraine Government

Was it good that the United States and its allies fought a 20 year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan?  Was all of the blood, sweat and tears worth it? How can any honest, moral, objective view conclude that all of the money wasted, goodwill lost, Americans and allies killed and countless innocent poor Afghan Read more

The “synodal process” begins next month: is anything happening?

Thursday, September 9th, 2021

The Synod of Bishops’ secretariat has published and presented to the press the “Preparatory document” and “Vademecum” for the synodal process of 2021-2023 that Pope Francis has called for the universal Church. It is perhaps the most audacious project of his pontificate. The official launch of the synodal process will take place October 9-10 in Read more

Boredom

Thursday, September 9th, 2021
boredom

In a world suffused with mobile technology, we’re often warned that our impulse to distract ourselves at every moment — rather than simply sitting with boredom — is dangerous. In this line of criticism, boredom is positioned as a state that we’ve lost touch with in our always-online modern lives. What benefits can boredom bring Read more

Six suggestions for the Catholic bishops’ document on the Eucharist

Thursday, September 9th, 2021
document on the eucharist

The U.S. bishops are working on a document on the Eucharist, which could be very helpful if they do it right. The chances are slim. The origins of the document go back to the bishops’ fight with pro-choice Catholic politicians, such as John Kerry, over the legalization of abortion. Some bishops, like Cardinal Raymond Burke, Read more

I experienced gay conversion therapy. Here’s why it should be banned

Thursday, September 9th, 2021
conversion therapy

When the priests told me that my sexuality must be changed, it never occurred to me to challenge what they were saying. I grew up in the Exclusive Brethren – a reclusive sect that tightly controls members’ lives and forbids social contact with non-members. The Brethren were firmly anti-gay, and my first awareness of the Read more

Our moral duty towards Afghan refugees

Monday, September 6th, 2021
Afghan refugees

I was one of the boat people who escaped from South Vietnam. The escape happened after South Vietnam had fallen to the Vietnamese communist forces in 1975, and my world descended into total chaos with an international embargo, wars against China and Cambodia, forced collectivisation and the insidious spread of what were termed ‘re-education camps’ — but Read more

The Book

Monday, September 6th, 2021
Christmas

The Bible is a Catholic book, so why don’t Catholics read it? That question is still with me, although I understand why the Church has discouraged personal interpretation of Scripture. Some misinterpretations of the Bible have caused strife and division in Christianity. At times, spiritual signposts have been pulled out of the ground of history Read more

Watching Sunday Mass does not fulfill the Sunday obligation

Monday, September 6th, 2021
Joe Green

And Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). During this time of lockdown at COVID levels 3 and 4 public liturgies, including Masses are prohibited. At level 3 an exception is made for weddings and civil union Read more