Seeing as God Sees

A Catholic Approach to Pastoral Care for People Affected by Gender Incongruity

Late last December, Homiletic & Pastoral Review ran an article by Stephen Adubato titled “Understanding the Vatican’s Document on Gender Theory and Education.” The document he refers to was released by the Congregation for Catholic Educa … [Read more...]

Understanding the Vatican’s Document on Gender Theory and Education

I’ve been trying to keep up with the diverse array of responses to the release of “Man and Woman He Created Them,” the Vatican’s new document addressing gender theory and education. Predictably, liberal Catholic news outlets have criticized … [Read more...]

The New Acceptance of Sodomy

Why? And What Now?

How could a Catholic priest ever come to think that it was morally acceptable for him to engage in sodomy? In the light of more than a dozen events or factors affecting one’s thinking since 1960, a priest with a same-sex orientation might a … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – April 2019

Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy, Vol. I: Lent & Holy Week By Fr. Thomas Hoisington. Reviewed by Stephanie A. Mann. (skip to review) Off the Hook: God, Love, Dating, and Marriage in a Hookup World By Timothy P. O’Malley. Reviewed b … [Read more...]

The Gift and Rights of Being Conceived, Part 2

Even if, as we have seen in Part I of this essay, there are unresolved questions concerning the definition of the moment of conception, an irreversible moment involving the action of God, each one of us is nevertheless evidence of an actual … [Read more...]

Late Summer Reading

Liturgy and Personality: The Healing Power of Formal Prayer, by Dietrich von Hildebrand; with a new foreword by Bishop Robert Barron (Sophia Institute Press [1943] 2018) $29.00. Reviewed by Fr. Ryan Rojo, S.T.L. The Porn Myth: Exposing … [Read more...]

The Gift and Rights of Being Conceived, Part 1

In the first of this two-part essay there is an examination of the wholeness of human being, the complementarity of faith and reason, and what human conception is, and what is said about it in the teaching of the Church (Part I). In the … [Read more...]

Humanae Vitae: An Unwelcomed Anniversary in the West

Conceptually pastoral weaknesses in expression, not errors, within Humanae Vitae, might have led to its lack of reception on the part of some priests, bishops, and people. For a host of reasons, it did not turn hearts and minds to … [Read more...]

A Reflection on Humanae Vitae

Recently I watched a television interview with an eloquent defender of Humanae Vitae, but at its conclusion I was disappointed. To be sure, the speaker made a brilliant consequentialist defense of the encyclical, but this time the emphasis … [Read more...]

What is Authentic Intimacy?

This article is a response to a Protestant couple that disagreed with the Church’s teaching on the dignity of the marriage act. It was a pleasant evening and we were discussing some of the books I was reading. The topic of contraception … [Read more...]

On the Lowly, Yet Vital, Importance of Chastity

A Response to His Excellency, Bishop Robert McElroy

The reader likely needs no introduction to the recent uproar in Catholic media regarding the rescinding of various speaking engagements previously granted to Fr. James Martin, SJ. Those particular waters are so contentious that I think … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: The Catechism says: "Each and every sexual act in a marriage needs to be open to the possibility of conceiving a child." Many elderly couples, as well as couples in which the man suffers from ED, believe that this teaching … [Read more...]

The Trinity, Sexual Complementarity, and Authentic Marriage

One of today’s most pressing errors is concerned with the confusion about the human person as male and female, and the increasing rejection by Christians of the revealed truth about authentic marriage. This is significant because it affects … [Read more...]

Being Single in the Church

Pastoral Approaches to a Growing Demographic

In the 2015 film, Brooklyn, there are a number of scenes in which young Eilis Lacey, a recent immigrant from Ireland, goes to several dances organized by her local church. There, she and her friends are courted by young gentlemen, one of … [Read more...]