No Peace, No Justice

Why the Rioters Are in the Wrong

In cities across the country, people are rioting in the streets in response, they say, to the death of George Floyd, who lost his life on May 25, while police, in Minneapolis, apprehended him on suspicion of passing counterfeit currency — a … [Read more...]

Culture of Encounter in Ferguson

Ferguson, Missouri has become a touchstone of contemporary discourse on race relations, usually juxtaposing African American and white populations. Yet, this Missouri town is also home to a Catholic parish that serves, among others, over a … [Read more...]

Dr. Curtis Boyd, Abortionist

The Tower of Abortive Choice, Anarchy, and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The Scourge of Abortion in New Mexican Catholic Culture—an Introduction Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Dr. Curtis Boyd, is a cult hero to some. To others he is the devil incarnate. Boyd is an abortionist. He performs third-trimester, and even pa … [Read more...]

Under Eden’s Spell

I do not think my students understand Christianity…. Many (students in class) are denominationally Roman Catholic. Some are Protestant. While childhood years spent in pews watching the liturgy or undergoing initiation rites of one sort or a … [Read more...]

What Is Really At Stake for Catholic Voters in this Election

November 2016 Editorial

In his Republic, Plato argues that we all get the government we deserve. That is, the political leaders of any given people are a direct reflection of what those people hold dear. Does a society think riches are the defining characteristic … [Read more...]

Does Religion Have An Essential Place in Political Society?

It is often said that religion should be a private affair. I have been told this while I was still working. It shows a distinct ignorance of the basis of religion itself. Religion is not meant to be private. It never was. Christianity, … [Read more...]

Promoting Devotion to Wisconsin’s Approved Marian Apparition among Catechists

Parish religious education programs will soon be gearing up for another year of instructing children in their religion. Parents have registered their children; curriculums and lesson plans are being drafted, and catechists are being … [Read more...]

Home and School in American Catholic Life

This essay argues that understanding the historical reasons why Catholic schools and homeschooling arose can help one to see how both may contribute to the revitalization of a Catholic subculture and American society in complementary w … [Read more...]

A Decisive Hour for American Catholics

We want the right to follow our consciences, to worship our God, and to live out our faith by making a contribution within the public square, which is our patrimony and our heritage: our blessed liberties. We have concluded the … [Read more...]

Catholic Scholars Address Current Problems

VOICES OF THE NEW SPRINGTIME: The Life and Work of the Catholic Church in the 21st Century. Edited by Kenneth D. Whitehead (St. Augustine’s Press, P.O. Box 2285, South Bend, Ind. 46680, 2004), ix + 102 pp. PB $17.00.

This volume contains the papers of the 25 th Annual Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, held in Philadelphia in 2002. The keynote address was given by Cardinal Avery Dulles, on faith and reason, with a call to Catholics to … [Read more...]

Imperial Judges

THE SUPREMACISTS. The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It. By Phyllis Schlafly (Spence Publishing Co., 111 Cole St., Dallas, Texas 75207, 2004), viii + 182 pp. HB $24.95.

Federal and State judges have become the leading protagonists in the current culture war that is going on in the United States. It seems like almost every month some activist federal judge declares a law passed by Congress or one of the … [Read more...]

How American Catholicism Was

THE EDGE OF SADNESS. By Edwin O’Connor (Loyola Press [Loyola Classics Series], 3441 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60657, 1962/2005 reprint), 640 pp. PB $13.95.

Once upon a time, before the priest scandals, Catholicism in Boston was rampant with good ol’ Irish “Cat’lics” who looked at religion as an extension of their everyday lives. Families were proud of the priests in their ranks, all went to Mas … [Read more...]

The First Black Catholic Priest in the United States

FROM SLAVE TO PRIEST. By Sister Caroline Hemesath, S.S.F. (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522; 1973/2006 reprint), 251 pages, HB, $17.95

This book is a reprint of 1973. The Rev. Augustine Tolton, ordained in 1886, was the first black Catholic priest in the United States. There were a few mulattos ordained slightly ahead of him, but he was the first fully black American to be … [Read more...]

Fighting for the Truth

REFLECTIONS OF A PRO-LIFE WARRIOR. By Robert J. Cetrulo, J.D. (Northern Kentucky Right to Life Educational Foundation, Inc., 1822 Madison Avenue, P. O. Box 1202, Covington, KY 41012), xiii + 246 pp. PB $12.95.

What is a pro-life warrior? Mr. Cetrulo cites the example of St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen, as the model for leaders in the pro-life movement: “He gave up everything—family, fortune, office, and ultimately his he … [Read more...]

A Bishop to Imitate

HE SPARED HIMSELF IN NOTHING. Essays on the Life and Thoughts of St. John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R. Edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S. (St. Joseph’s University Press, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19131, 2003), 236 pp. HB $35 plus $4 for S&H.

Fr. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R. was the first U.S. male citizen to be canonized (1977) in the United State (beatification in 1863). St. Joseph’s Jesuit University in Philadelphia undertook to publish these nine essays to honor this devotee of J … [Read more...]