By now it should be clear. Pope Francis really believes there is a serious lack of quality among priests and bishops in the Catholic church. Otherwise, he would not talk so often about the negative traits of certain men in ordained ministry, as he’s done again several times in recent days. “The world is tired Read more
In the last few years, a new sexual liberation movement, transgenderism, has arisen. It is complete with an ideology: A person can be born into the “wrong” sex and can correct that problem by amputations, hormones, change of name, pronouns and dress, demand for full public recognition as a member of the other sex, and Read more
What greater indictment of a system could there be than an epidemic of mental illness? Yet plagues of anxiety, stress, depression, social phobia, eating disorders, self-harm and loneliness now strike people down all over the world. The latest, catastrophic figures for children’s mental health in England reflect a global crisis. There are plenty of secondary Read more
When I was a young boy discerning a priestly vocation, I belonged to a Padre Pio Prayer Group. In our meetings we would pray the Holy Rosary for the intention of Padre Pio’s beatification. I recall the excitement of making summer pilgrimages via a long bus ride from New York City to the rural Shrine Read more
Let’s imagine a circle like a large bicycle wheel. The circle has paths resembling spokes converging in the centre. On the outer edge, my path may seem at a distance from other paths, maybe even opposite; but as I progress towards the centre, the other paths come closer until all unite as one. The circle, Read more
By now most of you must have heard the leaked tape where Donald Trump explains to Billy Bush that he often kisses women without permission and grabs them by their genitals as they both die with laughter at how funny that is. I was pretty upset about that tape, but not because I am a Read more
Amoris Laetitia came out while I was sitting in a hospital with my Tio (Uncle) Roy when he was dying in the ICU. At the time, my husband and I were on very shaky ground as far as our marriage was concerned. After many years of struggle that caused a lot of damage, pain and Read more
This fall I am giving presentations to all of the high school teachers, staff and administrators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. These talks take place on an annual basis, and they are dedicated to a regular cycle of topics. This year, the theme is morality. Lucky me! My guess is that disquisitions on doctrine Read more
Malcolm Turnbull told the UN that our treatment of refugees is world’s best practice. Only a guilty conscience could allow such self deception. In her book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem’, published in 1963, Hannah Arendt refers to the ‘banality of evil’. Her thesis was that Eichmann was not a fanatic or sociopath, but an extremely stupid Read more
The public is becoming increasingly aware that pornography addiction is a real problem for many men and women in our culture—and Catholics are no exception. Yet as Catholics, our first thought may be to try to eradicate any sinful behavior with some good old-fashioned perseverance and, of course, grace from the Sacrament of Confession. I Read more