via CNS: Starting a family and having children has become a kind of herculean task when instead it should be valued and supported by everyone, Pope Francis said at a meeting in Rome on Italy’s severe decline in population growth. Today’s culture “is unfriendly, if not hostile, to the family, centered as it is on… Read More Pope Francis: Starting a Family Should Not Be a ‘Titanic Effort’

via Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture:  What is the “Way Forward” for the Catholic Church in the United States? Learn about this key initiative bringing together bishops and theologians and other lay leaders for honest conversations about how to follow the path set out by the Second Vatican Council and Pope Francis.

Harrison Smith writes: Amitai Etzioni, an American Israeli sociologist who served as a senior policy adviser to the Carter White House, taught at George Washington University and championed the virtues of bedrock institutions — family, school, local government — while promoting the philosophy known as communitarianism, died May 31 at his home in Washington. He… Read More Amitai Etzioni, Key Communitarian Thinker and Advocate (1929-2023)

via the AND Campaign: We, the AND Campaign, are pro-woman and pro-child. Our Christian conviction calls us to raise our voices on behalf of both. The issue of abortion often revolves around a false choice that harms everyone involved. Watch this video to be better informed and move with both compassion and conviction on this… Read More The Whole Life Project

MSW writes: There is no clearer contrast between a morally depraved governor and a morally serious one than a comparison of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, both of whom are Catholic. DeSantis is a Republican and Edwards is a Democrat…. Edwards, who signed a six-week abortion ban last year,  used… Read More The Most Whole Life Politician in America

Millennial editor Robert Christian writes: If we thought the pandemic might transform American life by giving us a new appreciation for quiet evening strolls or less-booked schedules, our collective return to normal has perhaps put an end to such hopes. In high schools across the United States, kids are back to packing their resumes, desperate… Read More Rethinking Notions of Success and Merit

via Catholic Women Preach: Preaching for Easter Sunday, Nichole M. Flores offers a reflection on witnessing and testifying as Easter practice: “As we enter into this season of rejoicing, how can we create space for the practices of witnessing and testifying in our daily lives? How might these practices help us to attend to our… Read More Witnessing and Testifying as Easter People