Transsexual attractions and sexual reassignment surgery

Risks and potential risks

Given the early age at which youth seek treatment for transsexual attractions (TSA) and gender dysphoria, and given the serious risks associated with such treatment, it is essential that family and youth be advised about these risks, and … [Read more...]

Late Summer Reading

Unity in the Church or The Principle of Catholicism. By Johann Adam Möhler. (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1996). 487 pages. $34.95. ISBN: 978-0-8132-2876-1. Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on Law. By J. Bu … [Read more...]

Being Single in the Church

Pastoral Approaches to a Growing Demographic

In the 2015 film, Brooklyn, there are a number of scenes in which young Eilis Lacey, a recent immigrant from Ireland, goes to several dances organized by her local church. There, she and her friends are courted by young gentlemen, one of … [Read more...]

Serving LGBT Students in Catholic Schools

How do Catholic schools best serve students who struggle with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria (popularly called “transgendered”)? What should a school’s policies prescribe in order to prevent confusion, disputes and even litig … [Read more...]

Evangelization & Scripture: The Pastoral Prerequisites for Mass

The Sacred Liturgy is “an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ” by which the sanctification of mankind is “signified by signs” “and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs … it is a sacred action surpassing … [Read more...]

Ideas for Pastoral Ministry from the Philosophy of Love of Dietrich Von Hildebrand

My Encounter with the Philosophy of Love of Dietrich Von Hildebrand In the year 1958, I was a young atheist philosophy major about to give up on finding truth or love—as I couldn’t find either truth or love at the non-religious uni … [Read more...]

Catholic Men, the Spiritual Life, and Our Growth in Holiness-Perfection

Living Faith as Conversion, Knowledge, and Joy According to the Thought of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

A Catholic Christian spiritual life has often been described in terms of “ways,” “stages,” “degrees,” and “conversions.”[1. See, e.g., among many books on the topic, Fr. John J. Pasquini, Light, Happiness and Peace: Journeying Through Tradit … [Read more...]

Fall Reading for October 2015

Rebuilding Your Message: Practical Tools to Strengthen Your Preaching and Teaching. Michael White and Tom Corcoran. (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, Rebuilt Parish Book, 2015) 224 pages; $15.00. (Reviewed by Jon M. Ericson) Family and … [Read more...]

Twelve Lessons about the Financial Future of Catholic Schools

I have spoken with several bishops recently about the Catholic schools in their dioceses. The conversations brought home to me that what I recently heard from these bishops are the same questions, and the same challenges, that I have been … [Read more...]

Further Thoughts on the Synod

There was rejoicing at the first calling of the Synod because the family is in a bad way almost everywhere in the world. If there has been so much dissatisfaction with last year's—preliminary—Synod it is because the reports given, and the im … [Read more...]

Sexuality and Spirituality

An Attempt at Integration for Sexual and Spiritual Health

Abstract: This paper attempts to show the relationship between sexuality and spirituality, and ways to attain profound union between husbands and wives. Incorporating spirituality with sexual behavior enhances the capacity for satisfaction … [Read more...]

Best Practices for Clergy Assignment Boards

This is an assembly of some best practices for clergy assignment boards, gleaned from examples in dioceses across the U.S., encountered while doing numerous assessments of chanceries relative to best practices at the request of their … [Read more...]

The Resolution of Conflicts in Priestly Life and Relationships

Loving, supportive and mutually encouraging relationships among priests are essential to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of priests and to their ministry[1. Richard Fitzgibbons. “The Origins, Manifestation, and Resolution o … [Read more...]

More than Sentinels Wait for the Dawn

A Soldier Ponders the Wounds of War and the Absence of God

I’ve had it, Chaplain. My right leg still hurts like hell from the shrapnel, and God only knows when the drugs will kick in. But physical pain is one thing; thinking about the insurgents I killed in that firefight last deployment bothers me … [Read more...]

Reclaiming the Fifth Way

“New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris utilize evolution’s supposed purposelessness to cast doubt upon God’s existence, and draw atheistic conclusions about morality, ethics, and human nature.[1. See, for exam … [Read more...]