Catholics sighed with relief when state officials gave in to public pressure and decided to rebuild Notre Dame identically as it was before the tragic 2019 fire. The venerable 850-year old structure is part of the soul of the French nation. Any modernizations are rightly looked upon with suspicion. Ironically, the secular … Read more
There is a kind of interchangeability between the attributes of Our Lady and the Catholic Church. The things that are said of Our Lady, in their own way, can be said of the Catholic Church. Thus, when reciting the Litany of Our Lady or the Hail Holy Queen, we can apply all … Read more
On November 19, 2021, America magazine, a Jesuit publication, featured a video titled, “The Vatican changing tone toward LGBT Catholics.” In it, Fr. James Martin, S.J., and America associate editor Colleen Dulle discuss how Pope Francis is changing the Vatican’s tone on LGBT people. Fr. James Martin posted the video on his Facebook page, … Read more
Over fifty years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Catholics held the first Thanksgiving in America. On September 8, 1565, the feast of Our Lady’s Nativity, Spanish Catholics sat down for their first Thanksgiving dinner in the colonial town of St. Augustine, Florida. Three things marked this event: a Catholic hero, … Read more
“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 Would you lay down your life for your friends? Would they do so for you? If the answer to either of these questions is no, perhaps a better understanding of real friendship would … Read more
The world is accepting things that were objectionable not long ago. In 1999, a student of Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, posted a scathing message against 11 teachers and staff. He called them “satanic-worshipping demons.” Three teachers sued the student for defamation. Back then, being called a Satanist was slanderous. The … Read more
Coming out of a lengthy interview with the pope on October 29, President Biden told reporters that the Pontiff had encouraged him to continue receiving Holy Communion: “‘We just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic,’ adding that the pope told him to ‘keep receiving communion.’” Did … Read more
The “popular movements” are the vanguard of Catholic social justice warriors. They consist of a vast menagerie of leftist activists and community organizers found in political action groups, Basic Christian Communities, worker organizations and indigenous peoples’ lobbies. They exist worldwide, especially in less developed nations, and they implement the tenets of liberation … Read more
The effort to cast parents as roadblocks to education continues. An expressive example is the recent furor raised by Attorney General Merrick Garland when he turned the FBI loose on parents that he labeled as potential “domestic terrorists.” Privacy and Parents Nowhere are these roadblocks more evident than the efforts of some … Read more
The Art Institute of Chicago is a world-class grand art museum. It has a magnificent collection of over 300,000 works of art. The museum sits on the shore of Lake Michigan in some buildings dating back to the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery … Read more