One way to look at our economic mess

In light of the Wall Street bailout debate, here’s a quote of note from the blog of one of our clients:
Your Holiness, now would be an excellent moment for an historic, idol-smashing, human-dignity-restoring encyclical that could turn out to be the foundation of a revived social-Catholic movement of the twenty-first century.
(But you’ve probably already thought [...]

Archbishop says Democrats becoming ‘party of death’

This will set off some fireworks:
ROME (CNS) — The Democratic Party in the United States “risks transforming itself definitively into a ‘party of death,’” said U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s highest court.
(full story)

Died in his sleep

VATICAN CITY — Thirty years ago today I walked into the office of the Rome Daily American at 6:45 in the morning and began ripping the AP and Reuters newswires for a 7 o’clock radio news show. When I saw the teletype machines, I froze. At the top of each were two bulletins announcing the [...]

Adam and Eve were vegans

A funny thing about reading the Bible: you often find things you did not notice the first 20 or 30 times you read or heard the passage.
My most recent trip back to the Bible, to the beginning of the Bible, was prompted by reading the new document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, “The Bible and Morality.” Basically, [...]

A unique perspective on the dangers facing children

Thankfully, the issue of clergy sex abuse has all but disappeared from the front pages of our diocesan newspapers. Stories about how dioceses are implementing background checks for parish staff and volunteers or teaching Catholic schoolchildren how to avoid sexual predators are much more frequent than reports of any new incidents of sexual abuse.
But the [...]

Uncovering secrets of the Holocaust: A story worth being retold

Last year, Judith Sudilovsky, CNS correspondent in Jerusalem, reported on the story of a French priest whose mission has been to uncover the hidden truth of 1.5 million of the Jews murdered during World War II. Since 2001, Father Patrick Desbois and his team of researchers and ballistic experts have found 800 out of an estimated 2,000 mass [...]

Getting ready for the synod on the Bible

Many Catholics in the pews don’t realize the significance of next month’s world Synod of Bishops in Rome on the Bible. We’ve been giving it extra attention this summer and fall with numerous articles and a new section of our Web site devoted to the synod.
For instance, you can read Rome bureau chief John Thavis’ [...]

Bishop Morlino: ‘Setting the record straight’

In his Sept. 18 column for the Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Madison, Wis., Bishop Robert C. Morlino writes that he has received a “multitude of requests” to set the record straight about a recent homily he gave on Catholic politicians. The Sept. 7 homily was prompted by remarks by Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, on ”Meet the [...]

Where am I and what time is it?!

JERUSALEM — It is that time of the year when things start getting complicated for those of us who are mathematically challenged — when something as simple as setting up an appointment in Bethlehem can take four phone calls and three e-mails to ascertain exactly the time the meeting will be held.
Yes, daylight saving time has [...]

Soldiers and prayer linked in parish Web site

For several years, Julie Sines, the religious education director at St. Charles Parish in Bellows Falls, Vt., has been praying for U.S. soldiers every week in the parish’s adoration chapel.
Two years ago, Sines, who is also the parish webmaster, took these prayers out of the chapel and into cyberspace with a link on the parish Web site. The ”Prayers for [...]