Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI named the long list of questions that we Catholics confront in contemporary society the “canon of issues.” This canon includes women’s ordination, contraception, celibacy of priests, and remarriage of divorced pers … [Read more...]
Articles
“The Canon of Issues”: When Catholics Disagree With the Church
February 12, 2021 by Dr. Stuart Squires
Snapdragon: Newman and Distance Education
February 12, 2021 by Gabriel X. Martinez
If you know your John Henry Newman, you know that snapdragon, that beautiful flower capable of growing on stone walls, was the emblem of his stay at Oriel College (he would see the blooms from his window every spring and wrote a poem about … [Read more...]
Review Essay: Hahn and McGinley’s Future of Civilization
February 12, 2021 by Eduardo Echeverria
In their recent book, It is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion, Scott Hahn and Brandon McGinley develop a Catholic world and life view, undergirded by an ultimate framework consisting of the truths of … [Read more...]
Discerning the Gift of Priestly Celibacy in Relation to Marriage
February 12, 2021 by Dr. Carlos L. Gamundi
Every candidate to the priesthood, even those in the Oriental rites where celibacy is optional, must discern whether God is offering them the “precious gift of priestly celibacy.”[1. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 16.] In the Latin rite, priesthood … [Read more...]
On Live Streaming the Mass
February 12, 2021 by Fr. Christopher Seith
In an article written in 1953, the German philosopher Josef Pieper raises an alarm about the TV-transmission of the Mass that, at first, sounds hyperbolic and out of date. He seems horrified at what, for us, has become the norm. He argues … [Read more...]
Preaching Politics from the Pulpit
January 28, 2021 by Fr. Thomas F. Dailey
With the 2020 electoral campaign now behind us, candidates in close races strategize about how to garner votes among religious believers in two and four years. So, too, religious leaders will once again have to brace for political battle in … [Read more...]
The Significance of Signs and Symbols
January 28, 2021 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
Our Catholic faith is replete with beautiful signs and symbols that remind us of our heritage, teachings and traditions as followers of Jesus. A Christian sign is something that gives us direction by pointing beyond itself to a spiritual … [Read more...]
Beyond the Realms of Justice
January 28, 2021 by Brent Withers
The purpose of this essay is to explore what light the deeper truths of our faith can shed on the criminal justice system. The light of faith illuminates reality so we can see all things through the life, death, and resurrection of our … [Read more...]
The Cohabitation Dilemma
January 28, 2021 by Rev. Thomas G. Morrow
The number of couples who choose to live together without marriage has risen dramatically in the past fifty years, from near zero to 60%. For Catholics the percentage is almost 50%. One subject regarding this which has received little … [Read more...]
Toward a Causal Account of Priestly Formation
A Reading of Pastores Dabo Vobis
January 28, 2021 by Matthew Walz
Pope St. John Paul II published Pastores dabo vobis on March 25, 1992, when the Church celebrates the Annunciation, the initial moment of the Incarnation. No doubt he chose this date deliberately — and fittingly so. For when a man enters s … [Read more...]
Clergy Sex Abuse: Why Do We Still Need to Talk About This?
Often at the scene of a horrific accident, police will tell bystanders to “Move along. There is nothing to see here.” The Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is a terrible tragedy and many laity feel they are being given this very mess … [Read more...]
Doing Ministry for the Sake of the Apostolate
January 14, 2021 by Jordan Haddad
In the fifty-plus years since the close of the Second Vatican Council, the Church has witnessed a rapid growth of lay ecclesial ministry, of members of the lay faithful participating in a wide variety of ministerial functions and roles in … [Read more...]
Ten Commandments That Should Shape Palliative Care
January 14, 2021 by Rev. Basil Cole, OP
The Ten Commandments that are found in the Old and New Testament are meant to set limits to human freedom so that when obeyed, they produce within human beings a set of virtues or inner strengths, which enable a certain flourishing of one’s … [Read more...]
The Early Eucharist: How Was It Experienced?
January 14, 2021 by Joseph P. Mullin Jr.
The Eucharist many Christians experience today has its roots in historical and cultural practices no longer shared by contemporary society. Described in texts of the Early Christian period, the Eucharist was similar to meal customs of the … [Read more...]
Christ, the Sublime High Priest
Old and New Covenant Continuity and Fulfillment in Priesthood and Liturgy in Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews
January 14, 2021 by Marcus Benedict Peter
Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews exquisitely treats of the relationship between the salvific works of Old Covenant sacrifices and their fulfillment in the person of Christ as supreme High Priest of the New Covenant. Contrary to the position o … [Read more...]
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