Ed Wilkinson, a member of The Tablet staff for more than 45 years, is Editor Emeritus. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Cathedral College and studied theology for a year at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, N.Y. He is an active parishioner at Our Lady of Angels parish in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Below is a Currents News special about Wilkinson as well as an archive of his columns from The Tablet.
Each year, we invite our readers to help us help others brighten someone else’s Christmas. It’s an opportunity to assist those who for one reason or another just do not have enough resources this year.
We call it The Tablet’s Bright Christmas Campaign, and it has been going on for about 50 years. Last year, we collected more than $125,000 that we redistributed to the poor and needy through our parishes and diocesan agencies.
The Vatican, in its initial reaction to the terrorist bombings in Paris, condemned the attacks, calling for “a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread the homicidal hatred in all of its forms.” But the Church does not expand upon what form that response should take.
Speaking the truth through charity is one of the greatest signs of Christian living. It’s the most powerful message that one can deliver. I’m talking Mother Teresa here. She literally walked the streets of Calcutta with the poorest of the poor, picking them up and giving them comfort. I’m talking St. Damien of Molokai, who served among the lepers of Hawaii, leading to his own death by Hansen’s disease. I’m talking about the many priests and sisters of the diocese who live among the poor and seek no spotlight for their actions.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, that means only one thing at The Tablet’s office – Bright Christmas is ready to go.
What a mess that Synod on the Family turned out to be! And that’s probably exactly what Pope Francis had in mind. Remember when the Holy Father gave his parting words to the young people gathered on the beach in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day, 2013. He told them to go back to their home parishes and cause a mess. Get involved and stir things up was the pope’s advice. Challenge the status quo. Seek the truth by sharing ideas and be confident that the truth will prevail.
Msgr. Howard Basler, who died last week, was an outstanding priest. He was a priest who was thinking outside the box long before anyone ever heard of that phrase. He was something of a Renaissance man. He loved to read, to discuss new ideas, to watch the Mets and to be around his friends. He fully understood that before he could be a good priest, he had to be a good person. He was both.
For the past 12 years, the Shining Stars Awards dinner has been conducted by the diocesan Catholic Migration Services to honor the contributions to the Church and community by immigrants. It has become so popular that each year there are now two dinners to accommodate all the people who want to attend.
So, what to think about Kim Davis? She’s the county clerk from Kentucky who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She served a few days in jail for refusal to do her job, was freed and then claimed to have had a private audience with Pope Francis during his visit to Washington, D.C. Her attorney said that the Holy Father told her to be strong – an apparent endorsement of her position.
The Diocese of Brooklyn is quite unique. It is the smallest, in terms of territory, in the United States and yet, it is the most densely populated. It shares the boundaries of its city with an archdiocese – one of the few places in the world where that happens. So it was only appropriate that […]
Writing this column is hazardous. We have seen what Pope Francis has done and said on his apostolic voyage to Cuba. But we can only anticipate what he will say when he arrives in the United States. While President Raul Castro used his welcoming remarks in Havana to exploit the achievements of socialism, Pope Francis […]
