Letter to My Goddaughter Marrying Outside of the Church
What do you say to a loved one who is getting married outside the Church? Dr. Janet Smith shares a letter she sent to a loved one in this situation.
Don’t Look Up: A Doomsday Movie as Rorschach Test
The recently-released movie “Don’t Look Up” can be seen as a brilliant comedy exposing our culture’s idiotic response to COVID-19.
Attending Sinful Weddings
Deciding whether or not to attend the weddings of those not living in accord with the Church’s teaching on sexuality is, for many of us, an agonizing matter. People often ask for my advice. (I find it easier to advise them than to make similar decisions in my own life!) John,* a Catholic father, asked … Read more
The Fake Theology Behind Vaccine Mandates
In her National Catholic Reporter article “Catholics seeking ‘religious’ exemptions from vaccines must follow true church teaching on conscience”, M. Therese Lysaught, a professor of bioethics and a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, maintains that Catholics in good conscience MUST receive a COVID-19 vaccine. She provides a template for a “dialogue” with … Read more
The Limits of a Priest’s Right to Privacy
Yesterday Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill resigned from his position at the USCCB as a general secretary with responsibility for overseeing sex abuse cases. What caused the resignation of the highest-ranking non-bishop Church official in the country? He was caught regularly using apps that connect men who want to have sex with other men. An article by … Read more
“Pillar-ying” Bishop Strickland
Now that the growing tyranny of our government and the media have developed a “cancel culture,” the title of a recent article from The Pillar criticizing Bishop Joseph Strickland for his views on the COVID-19 vaccines is remarkably tone deaf: “Will the Vatican address vaccine confusion, and the bishop at its center?” The Pillar—a new … Read more
Imagine Yourself a Bishop
There are many different kinds of bishops. The basically good bishops lead morally upright lives, are faithful to the magisterium, and are dedicated to service. There are numerous varieties of bad bishops: those sexually active with females or males; those who cover up for priests who engage in immoral behavior; those living luxurious lives and … Read more
The Health of Nations: What America Can Learn from Other Countries About Abortion and Divorce
Most Americans would most likely await a compliment when they hear the claim “The United States is in a class by itself.” But for many this expectation will be sadly dashed when they read these words in Mary Ann Glendon’s new book, Abortion and Divorce in Western Law (Harvard University Press). Glendon, a Harvard Law … Read more
Paul VI as Prophet: “Humanae Vitae” Made Some Bold Prophecies Two Decades Ago. Did They Come to Pass?
Prophecy is a tricky business. If a prophet predicts that something will happen and it does not, the prophet is discredited. But what if he predicts truly? Doesn’t the truth of his prediction give credence to the prophet’s insight, authority, reasoning—to whatever is the source of his ability to prophesy? Would we not be inclined … Read more
“Humanae Vitae” at 20: New Insights Into an Old Debate
In certain respects 20 years is a long time. While it’s not quite a generation, there exists a whole cohort of adult Catholics who were not alive during the sixties or who were too young to be aware of the tumult the issuance of Humanae Vitae engendered. Catholics of this generation are an assorted lot. … Read more
Preparing for the Synod on the Laity
“The people are the Church,” they tell us. “They” are the theologians and their disciples in the community in which I teach and live. But who are these “people” who are the Church? I recently heard one of these modern theologians (a priest) who define the Church as “the people” (is he one of the … Read more
Mary Daly’s Pure Lust: A Symposium
Editor’s Note: The incommensurability between occasion and reaction has been called the mark of genius. Mary Daly’s new work, Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy (Beacon Press 471 pp., $18.95), is not, a first blush (we speak advisedly) the kind of book we would want to review, let alone devote a symposium to. It reaches a … Read more