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The Fruit of the Catholic Church's 30+ Year Romance of Social Conservative Politics

  This needs to be said. Not all Catholics are celebrating the end of Roe v. Wade. While most US Catholic bishop, priests, and Catholic media are celebrating the Supreme Court’s overturning of Row v. Wade, there are a lot of Catholics who are not celebrating. For more than thirty years, abortion has been the dominant issue--almost the only issue--the Catholic Bishops and Catholic media talk about in the American public square. It has been preached from the pulpits, the TV, and the radio, that banning abortion is the panacea to all perceived woes. And it has overshadowed issues such as racism, sexism, economic disparity, access to healthcare, housing, childcare and living wages, the problem of gun violence, the disease of addiction... Catholic politicians could and did  promote the death penalty; they closed polling places in minority districts; were as hawkish on warfare as they could be, and railed against immigrants and still received by-and-large a big stamp of approval from the US
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When Vaccination Is An Act of Charity

Statement of the U.S. Bishops : The “gravity” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and “the lack of availability of alternative vaccines,” are “sufficiently serious” reasons to accept the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine and pro-life committees said Dec. 14, 2020. “Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community,” they said. “In this way, being vaccinated safely against COVID-19 should be considered an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.” The bishops addressed the moral concerns raised by the fact the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have some connection to cell lines that originated with tissue taken from abortions. However, this connection to morally compromised cell lines is (a) indirect, and (b) extremely remote. Furthermore, (c) the public health situation is too grave to reject the vaccines, said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of
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Not a Christmas Card Ending

    Javier and María and their three children had fled violence in El Salvador, and had ultimately traveled thousands of miles seeking a better life. I first encountered this family a few years ago, when around 10 p.m. the rectory doorbell rang. It was a police officer. He explained to me that he had a family in the lobby of the police station that had nowhere to go.    I accompanied the police officer to the station where I was introduced to Javier, María, and their three small children. They had literally no where to go. The police officers at the station had been incredibly kind and hospitable, giving this family food and even giving the children crayons and coloring books. My parish had an arrangement with the local St. Vincent de Paul society, to provide temporary housing in a local hotel. And so we were able to arrange for this family to spend a few nights in a hotel while the folks at St. Vincent de Paul went about there difficult task of securing emergency housing and assistanc
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The Conversation

    The war comic books in the waiting room of the barber shop had cover prices of 20 or 25 cents. The covers were practically interchangeable. Mostly scenes from WWII. American troops fighting Nazis. The closing page always ended the same way: “War is Hell.”     The elderly man who asked me to visit him in the hospital said the same thing to me: “War is Hell.” He did not ask me there to hear his confession—he had already done that with another priest. He just wanted a conversation.     He was an intelligent, well-read man. Unlike I, his knowledge of the battlefield was more than just comic books and movies. He had been in combat situations more than once; in what he called the unenviable, no-win situation of kill or risk being killed.     This man knew his Catechism. He knew about just war theory and also the right to self-defense, or defense of others. Nevertheless, it weighed heavy upon him. The burden he carried was still great even after a lifetime of Confession and Absolution. It
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The So-Called McCarrick Report Has Landed

The so-called McCarrick Report has landed. So far, not with as much press coverage as one would expect. But that will happen in time. Because the tremors are about to get stronger, and the shockwaves will follow. The full report is called, “REPORT ON THE HOLY SEE’S INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND DECISION-MAKING RELATED TO FORMER CARDINAL THEODORE EDGAR MCCARRICK, 1930-2017.” And as John Allen recently opined, this is an unprecedented public self-reckoning by the Church that cannot be walked-back.  This degree of transparency is, indeed, unsettling but so necessary. Without acknowledgment of sin, how can penances occur? More so, when the sins are ecclesial. Perhaps none of us will be surprised at this point that tremendous evil occurred within the Church, perpetrated by shepherds called to imitate Christ. But instead, these shepherds imitated the Devil. And how do we characterize those shepherds who knew this evil was occurring and allowed it to continue? This report names names and like w
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First Blog in a Long, Long Time. But a New Papal Encyclical is a Worthy Occasion to Write

    I have not written a blog post in years. It was not really a conscious plan as much as focusing my attention elsewhere. I had gone back and re-read some of my comments on Laudatio Si from five years ago and thought it appropriate to offer some feedback on the new papal encyclical letter: On Fraternity and Social Friendship .  I am not one to criticize the Pope, other than stylistically. Pope Francis sometimes writes without the theological precision that I prefer. But as Pope, Jesus Christ’s Vicar on Earth, Francis’ words are consequential.  Here are some important points Pope Francis makes in Fratelli Tutti:      People are made in God’s image and likeness and have inherent dignity. (n. 39) “[I]t is important that catechesis and preaching speak more directly and clearly about the social meaning of existence, the fraternal dimension of spirituality, our conviction of the inalienable dignity of each person, and our reasons for loving and accepting all our brothers and sisters. (n.
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Did the Blessed Virgin Mary See the Resurrected Jesus?

According to the Bible, it is unknown whether or not Jess appeared to his mother, Mary. However, according to tradition, Jesus appeared to his mother. This is known in Hispanic cultures as the encuentro --the encounter.  While Scripture does not describe any post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus to His Mother, Mary, many saints have speculated that Jesus did appear to His Mother. For example, as Pope Saint John Paul II once remarked: The Gospels mention various appearances of the risen Christ, but not a meeting between Jesus and his Mother. This silence must not lead to the conclusion that after the Resurrection Christ did not appear to Mary… …Indeed, it is legitimate to think that the Mother was probably the first person to whom the risen Jesus appeared. (Pope Saint John Paul II, General Audience, May 21, 1997, accessed on Dec. 30, 2017 at  21 May 1997 | John Paul II )
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