The Church’s Teaching on Marriage, Part One

Go to Part II Go to Part III It is often said that the Church is too concerned about sexual morality. The Church should rather be concerned about poverty, discrimination, and climate change. Such an accusation is a bit disingenuous in … [Read more...]

Post-Exorcism Care: A Suggested Program of Pastoral Care for Liberated Persons

The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).[1. Every biblical citation is from the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition of the Bible found at Biblegateway.com unless noted … [Read more...]

A Bold Message of Love

Bishop Michael Burbidge’s Catechesis on the Human Person

In the month of the mighty messengers of God, the archangels, it is refreshing to hear a hope-filled message through Bishop Burbidge’s Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology.[1. Bishop Michael Burbidge, “A Catechesis on the Hum … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – September 2021

Intinction With Unconsecrated Hosts? Question: Is it an egregious (sin) matter, if a priest does intinction of unconsecrated hosts with consecrated Precious Blood while distributing Holy Communion? Answer: Presumably this reflects a … [Read more...]

Large Catholic Families as Prophetic Signs

The American fertility rate in 2018 was 1.7. The birth rate was 11.96. The American fertility rate in 2019 was, again, 1.7; the birth rate rose slightly to 11.99. “Fertility rate” is the average number of children born to a woman during her … [Read more...]

Contradiction: On Libertarianism and LGBTQ Orthodoxy

On February 23, Blaise Cardinal Cupich reiterated an objection to the hijacking of Catholic teaching by libertarian ideology. He was reflecting on how libertarianism impedes Catholics receiving Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ as the aut … [Read more...]

Eucharistic Coherence and Liturgical Parables

Who should or should not receive the Eucharist? Should anyone be denied the Eucharist? These questions have generated much controversy in recent weeks as the USCCB has debated drafting a document on this topic. The controversy seems to be … [Read more...]

Catholics in High Public Office Today

Today there are approximately 51 million Catholic Christians in the United States. The U.S. population currently numbers approximately 330 million, and thus Catholics make up only about one fifth of the population. Nevertheless, there is an … [Read more...]

Newman, Aquinas, and the Development of Doctrine

The question of the development of doctrine, and his investigation of its implications, was crucial to John Henry Newman’s conversion to the Catholic Church. The question with which he struggled was this: how can it be that the Christian f … [Read more...]

The Death Penalty Is a Failed Sacrifice

The final abolition of the death penalty in the 2018 revision of the Catechism[1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2267.] and follow-up confirmation in the latest Pope Francis encyclical, Fratelli tutti,[2. Pope Francis, Fratelli … [Read more...]

The Best Medicine for Racial Healing

A physician once said, “The best medicine for humans is love.” Someone asked, “What if it doesn’t work?” He smiled and said, “Increase the dose.” We are at a period in our nation where we need to increase the dose of love when it comes to th … [Read more...]

A Cross Like Yours: Perspectives On Infertility

According to the CDC,[1. www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm.] about 6 percent of married women in the U.S. between the ages of 15 and 44 fit the medical definition of “infertility,” that is, being unable to conceive a chi … [Read more...]

“The Canon of Issues”: When Catholics Disagree With the Church

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI named the long list of questions that we Catholics confront in contemporary society the “canon of issues.” This canon includes women’s ordination, contraception, celibacy of priests, and remarriage of divorced pers … [Read more...]

Preaching Politics from the Pulpit

With the 2020 electoral campaign now behind us, candidates in close races strategize about how to garner votes among religious believers in two and four years. So, too, religious leaders will once again have to brace for political battle in … [Read more...]

Male and Female He Created Them: Ecumenical Reflections

Confusion. Division. Chaos. Heresy. These terms describe the effects of the serious flirtations with the Zeitgeist currently afflicting to a lesser or greater degree the Catholic Church — see the German and Belgium episcopacy — and other chu … [Read more...]