Two years ago I declared that Deacon Mike Rogers was a better person than I am. Last year I admitted that I still hadn’t forgiven Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the recently convicted Boston Marathon bomber. Now that the last athlete has crossed the finish line of the 119th running, I confess that I still hold an angry… Read More Sermon on the Marathon

“Terror in the Heartland” read the headline in our morning newspaper 20 years ago. It was sprawled over a full-color photo of a firefighter holding a little girl. That image and headline are burned into my memory. Even though I lived far from Oklahoma City, the terror resonated with my teenage self. People went to… Read More Marathons and Prayer: Moving Forward from Terror

The Vatican today confirmed the rumors that started last week: Pope Francis will indeed visit Cuba days before his trip to the United States this fall. Francis played a prominent role in President Obama’s decision last December to begin the process of restarting diplomatic relations with the small Communist country ninety miles south of Florida.… Read More Breaking: Pope Francis to visit Cuba before US visit this fall

Millennial editor Robert Christian has a new article in Church Life. He writes: Republicans who reject economic libertarianism are subject to primary challenges from the right, financed by those who see politics as a transactional process to serve their own interests. Democrats who reject social libertarianism often lack the funds to compete in primaries against… Read More A New Progressive Era for the Second Gilded Age

Big news via John Allen at Crux: In what is likely to be hailed as major step toward accountability for Catholic bishops who mishandle sexual abuse allegations, the Vatican has announced the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The announcement came Tuesday in a brief statement in the Vatican’s daily news bulletin,… Read More Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Who Failed to Report Abuse, Resigns