To give or not to give communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians? That is the big question.
Guest Columnists
One Way the Church Makes a Difference For Millions
Some people wonder why, as Director of the Propagation of the Faith, I would also be interested in promoting Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Some have seen these two arms of the church as competing organizations. I see them as complementary! Both are important missionary organizations.
Cardinal Pell and the Squirming Catholics
According to the movie “Love Story,” “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Typical Hollywood fluff, you might say. Yet the best answer to that asininity was given by a Hollywood all-star, the late, great Charlton Heston. Asked the secret of what would become his 64-year marriage to Lydia, he replied, “Learning to say five words: ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong.’”
Remembering Lives Of Consequence
All lives are consequential, for every human being is an idea of God’s, and everyone is a someone for whom the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, entered history, suffered, died — and was raised from the dead to display within history a new, glorified humanity.
Reflecting on Exodus, Lent, And Becoming a True Nation
Ten years ago, I began a most extraordinary Lent by walking up the Aventine Hill to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the first day of the Roman station church pilgrimage — an eight-week journey that led to the book “Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches,” co-authored with my friend Elizabeth Lev and my son, Stephen.
A Eureka Moment With Pope Francis
History cannot be changed by purifying the past of its impurities. Trying to do it is a violation of the historical truth, something like crying over spilled milk.
From Christendom Times to Apostolic Times
Thirty years ago, on January 22, 1991, Pope John Paul II’s eighth encyclical, Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Redeemer), was published. In a pontificate so rich in ideas that its teaching has only begun to be digested, Redemptoris Missio stands out as a blueprint for the Catholic future.
The Challenge of Eucharistic Coherence
In his encyclical, “Ecclesia de Eucharistia,” Pope St. John Paul II invited Catholics to “rekindle” our sense of “Eucharistic amazement,” for “the Church draws her life from the Eucharist,” which “recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church” — Christ’s glorified, abiding presence with, in, and through his people, fulfilling his promise to remain with us “to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
A Father and Son’s Journey to the East During The Year of St. Joseph
Like most American 12 year-olds, my youngest son Joseph is obsessed with all things Catholic. (Yes, that was sarcasm.) He is fascinated with theology and Church structures. Recently, Joseph discovered something that rekindled my love and interest in the Eastern Church.
The Holy See and Thug Regimes
The list of grave issues that must be addressed during a future papal interregnum, and by the cardinal-electors in a conclave, continues to grow.