Rand Paul’s understanding of the role of government starkly contrasts with the role envisioned in Catholic teaching. It is no surprise then when he breaks from the Church’s position on a wide array of issues, particularly those affecting the poor and the most vulnerable. What may be more surprising is his rejection of the Catholic… Read More Rand Paul vs. Catholic Universalism
More than twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II brought the attention of the Catholic Church to the issue of climate change when he declared in his 1990 World Day of Peace Message, “The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related ‘greenhouse effect’ has now reached crisis proportions.” Since that time, the Church… Read More Catholic Millennials and Climate Change
We are all called to recognize the dignity and worth of every single person. Whether it is as members of a community of faith or simply as members of the societies in which we live, we are called to respect all human life. This requires a particular concern for the most vulnerable, those most exposed… Read More Pro-lifers Must Support Those with Disabilities
The United States needs comprehensive immigration reform. We need it now. There is a twelve-year-old girl on a crumbling stoop in inner city Philadelphia who can tell you why. She is a U.S. citizen, but is currently experiencing the trauma and pain of having a mother who is not. Clutching a bag of food from… Read More The Human Face of Immigration Reform
Few events have defined Pope Francis’ young papacy as much as his monumental decision to break from tradition in the Holy Thursday ritual of washing the feet. The moving witness of him bending over and cleaning the feet of twelve marginalized poor (non-Italian) young men and women may be remembered as an important moment in… Read More The Pope and the Power of Humility
Sociologist Robert Bellah has described Memorial Day as a day that serves to “integrate the local community into the national cult” of American civil religion. Memorial Day was first officially observed on May 30, 1868 for Americans to pause in awe and gratitude for the supreme sacrifices made by those who died fighting in the… Read More Find a Parade Today
Yesterday my Saturday morning began (as it so often does) with the New York Times, and in what is starting to seem quite common, a cover story of a violent and public rape. This week it’s Brazil (“Public Rapes Outrage Brazil, Testing Ideas of Image and Class”), but there was very little new or unique… Read More Rape on the Front Page: What Will it Take to Wake Us Up?
Millennial 