Filip Mazurczak writes that no one says he’s personally opposed to human trafficking, but it’s better to have it safe, legal, and rare. So why on abortion? Those who believe that the right to life is a fundamental human right have experienced two major defeats on two continents in less than a month. On May 25, […]
Robert Royal praises recent pro-life words by Pope Francis. But why was the Holy Father all but silent about abortion votes in Ireland and Argentina? I’d been on the road for much of the past week and hadn’t been very carefully following the news. But I woke yesterday to the heartening news that Pope Francis had […]
A few days ago the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in the case of a Colorado baker who had refused, for reasons of religious conscience, to bake a wedding cake for the same-sex wedding of two men. Unfortunately, the Court ruling did not address the question of whether the baker, or anybody else similarly situated, […]
Fr. Gerald E. Murray writes that the resignation of Chile’s bishops reminds us that removal of abusers from the priesthood is a necessary and unmistakable rebuke. The surprise announcement by all the bishops of Chile of their submissions of resignations to Pope Francis is a stunning development. I did live television commentary for the Brooklyn Diocese’s […]
Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek writes that God does not make us sin, although He permits us to choose sin. And our sins are the reason for the Incarnation of Christ. Pope Francis is reported to have told a homosexual, “God made you that way and loves you.” In the last six months, I have responded to […]
I suppose the great majority of people who have ever lived have believed in life after death in some form or other. It may not have been a happy life after death they believed in. For instance, Christians and others have believed in an absolutely miserable place where many of us (but not all) will […]
James V. Schall, S.J. on the decline of open inquiry on college campuses. A recent example: Reed College, where each color only sees its own color. A Wall Street Journal editorial (April 20) commented on Reed College’s capitulation to student “bullies,” as it called them: “This (campus protest)) is about blocking the study of core texts of Western […]
Bevil Bramwell OMI: Catholicism is not progressive in the modern sense, but in promoting the union of human beings with God and each other. In our culture, there are many abused terms, but perhaps the most abused is “progress.” The word comes originally from the Latin for “going forward.” The Renaissance gave the word a distinctly subjective […]
David Warren writes about the attention being given to the fate of toddler Alfie Evans. To oppose his death is to be an enemy of the state. As I write, the fate of the baby Alfie Evans in England is (or was) open. It is “breaking news,” and there are two things to know about that. […]
In recent decades, hundreds of millions of people (mainly in Asia) have, by their own ingenuity and with the infusion of at least a modicum of freedom to pursue their livelihoods, climbed out of entrenched poverty. The desperately poor as a percentage of global population have reached unprecedented lows. This is the very good news […]
James V. Schall, S.J: Christ, the Word in the Trinity, made two great statements about truth: 1) “The truth shall make you free;” 2) “I am the truth.” The December 30, 1996 Ripley’s Believe It or Not contained the following item: “The SkyDome in Toronto uses over ten miles of zippers to fasten its artificial turf.” Off hand, […]
Pope Francis celebrated and preached at the Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Holy Thursday morning. He addressed the concelebrating priests on the themes of the closeness of God and the closeness that priests should have to their people. This priestly closeness is “an attitude that engages the whole person.” He praised street priests“who are ‘close’, available, […]
William Kilpatrick notes that many (including the pope) adhere to an outdated, multicultural view of Islam, which has lately reverted to its 7th-century militancy. I recently received an email from a reader who took issue with my skeptical view of Islam. Between 1963 and 1965, he worked for the Peace Corps in a Muslim area of […]
Note: This column was written and uploaded prior to the U.S. attack on Syria late last night [April 13, 2018]. The questions it raises about further developing just war theory, however, remain current – now perhaps even more than earlier. – Robert Royal Over the centuries, “just war theory” was proposed and developed by a […]
Robert Royal notes that in the pope’s new, inconsistent apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, much in Catholic tradition is well-presented. Among the many sad consequences of the divisions Pope Francis has exacerbated within the Church, we’re now forced to live with an undeniable reality: even when he says good things – and there are many such in […]