January 23, 2021
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Tag: Catholic Life

Pope Francis and Same-Sex Unions

Background Note:ย Iย recently explainedย how popes have strived toย preserve doctrinal continuity by supporting their predecessorsโ€™ pronouncements. I noted, as well, that though this action may be well intended, whenย the issue involvesย aย contradiction...

Catholicism: Can the Decline Be Reversed?

That the Catholic Church has been losing numbers for decades has been well established. Why the loss has occurred, however, is not as clear. One might expect that Church leaders would be interested in finding the answer and sharing it with their...

Advice to a Disenchanted Catholic

A reader recently offered this (paraphrased) comment on an essay of mine: โ€œYour essay and others like it leave me frustrated. They talk about the impact of Modernism, the failures of U.S. bishops and Pope Francis, sexual abuse by priests, financial...

Worth the Risk

For centuries missionary priests have risked their lives to spread the Gospel and expand the reach of the Catholic Church. Many have been martyred for their efforts. In Japan, as beautifully dramatised in Martin Scorceseโ€™s Silence, the Shogunate of...

Meat on Fridays?

I am a proud carnivore.ย I often show my cuspid teeth to my vegan buddy as a reminder to him that our genetics created these to rip and tear meat.ย In addition, not being a fan of the greens he eats, I offer to save him my lawn clippings each summer...

Our Shrinking Reality

I live in a small town in New Jersey where things have not been going so well for our parish or the surrounding diocese.ย We have struggled to maintain two priests at our parish.ย Our pastor, now approaching 75 years of age, has appealed numerous...

Cultivating a Catholic Culture

Ours is a world over which technology and pop culture are constantly swaying dominance, especially in society. The concrete jungle, being built ever higher and more expansive, allows the bombardment of media and entertainment to reach us with ease...

Restoring the Catholic Church

Recently, while dusting my bookcase, I noticed my copy of Malachi Martinโ€™s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church, published in 1981. I flipped through its underscored and annotated pages and realized that Martinโ€™s observations seem even...