As 270 bishops engage in dialogue on the pastoral care of the person and the family during the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Catholics are reflecting on the family’s vocation.
Guest Columnists
‘Woodland’ Kicks Off Football Morality Tale
High school football players battle racism on and off the field in “Woodlawn” (Pure Flix), an entertaining and inspirational film that’s based on a true story and appropriate for most age groups.
‘Church of Spies’ Ends ‘Hitler’s Pope’
The great Piazza San Pietro in Rome is a five-minute walk from where I’m living during Synod-2015. About three-quarters of the Square is bounded by the famous Bernini colonnades, which reach out from the Vatican basilica as if to embrace the world. Along the open “front” of the Piazza and along the perimeter of the colonnades, a broad white stripe is embedded in the street. The casual visitor might mistake it for a kind of “No Parking” sign.
Divinely Inspired by Diocesan Pilgrimage
A group of pilgrims attended the Passion Play in Sordevolo, Italy, with the Diocese of Brooklyn. The group’s spiritual leaders were Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto, Msgr. Steven Aguggia, pastor of St. Margaret Church, Middle Village, and Father Gerard Sauer, diocesan pilgrimage director.
Delving Beneath the Surface at the Synod
ROME. SINCE POPE Francis announced that two Synods would examine the contemporary crisis of marriage and the family, and work to devise more evangelically dynamic responses to that crisis, a lot of attention has focused on issues of Catholic discipline: How does the Church determine that a marriage never existed, and thus grant a decree of nullity? What is to be done about the sacramental situation of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics? How does the Church best prepare its sons and daughters for marriage?
A Tribute to Yogi
BY THE TIME “Nobody Don’t Like Yogi,” Ben Gazzara’s one-man paean to Yogi Berra reached the New York stage in the Fall of 2003, I had already joined the ranks of the many who agreed with the sentiment in that play’s title. But ’twas not always thus.
Synod 2015 Hopes
THE XIV ORDINARY General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family begins with Mass in St. Peter’s on Oct. 4. No synod in modern Catholic history has drawn such worldwide press attention or generated such controversy within the Church – with the possible exception of the special synod called by John Paul II to examine Vatican II on the 20th anniversary of its conclusion.
Rough Rider’s Lessons For Political Ruffians
SITTING AT A WRITING-desk in the White House on Dec. 11, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt was an unhappy camper. In previous letters, he addressed his correspondent as “Dear Maria.” Now, it was “Mrs. Storer” who would be on the receiving end of the presidential wrath.
Jailed for Defending Marriage
Guest columnist Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk addresses how Kim Davis’ measured actions at the clerk’s office in Rowan County, Ky., offer a coherent and courageous response to chaotic attempts to undermine marriage and the rule of law.
All Eyes Will Be on ‘Favorable’ Pope
Guest columnist Richard Trumka shares the results of a recent national survey, commissioned by the AFL-CIO and faith organizations, that shows “religious” and “faith affiliated” Americans see Pope Francis’ moral clarity as a guide for the 2016 presidential election.