Hearings Muddied by the Cloud of Politics

The Catholic social justice group, Network, should be ashamed of the role it tried to play to negate the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Church is One

The Church certainly is in a mess right now. The clerical sex abuse scandal and the attempt to protect children have blown into a full-scale civil war of liberals versus conservatives. It’s gone so far that some people are actually calling upon Pope Francis to resign from his office.

Bonds of Family Unite The Church

It would be a shame if last week’s papal trip to Ireland was judged simply as a referendum as to how the Church is handling the sex abuse crisis. While Pope Francis went to Ireland to affirm the World Meeting of Families, most of the headlines of the week surrounded the recent grand jury report about clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania and Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals as well as the history of abuse in Ireland.

Details of Abuse in the Church Must Be Heard

As I transition away from the Editor’s desk and into my new role with DeSales Media, I wish I had cheerier things to write about. Unfortunately, the clergy sex abuse scandal that has gripped the Church for so many years continues to haunt us.

Have You Renewed Your Tablet Subscription?

We will be talking up individual subscriptions as the fall pastoral year approaches. I plan to meet with each deanery in Brooklyn and Queens to elaborate on how to bring down the parish subscribers and convert them to individual subscribers.

The Legends of Martyrs Continue to Grow

When I was a student in elementary school, I remember the nuns telling us that we would probably never be called upon to give our life’s blood for the faith. This was usually in the context about how so many martyrs had died for the faith. One of our heroes at the time was Bishop Francis X. Ford, the Maryknoller from Brooklyn who lost his life in a Communist Chinese prison camp.

The Stage Is Being Set for The Great Irish Fair

At this year’s Great Irish Fair, set for Sept. 22 in Coney Ireland, I will be pleased to accept the second annual Al O’Hagan Memorial Award for Community Service. I am honored because in some small way it will continue to keep alive the great legacy of O’Hagan, one of the chief architects of the Fair.

Can We Have a Rational Discussion About Immigration?

Since The Tablet did not publish an issue last weekend, the letters to the editor have been piling up on my desk. Most of them have dealt with one subject – the separation of families at the border between the United States and Mexico as we struggle with an influx of peoples wanting to enter the U.S.