A friend of mine, a mother and teacher, has spent the last 40 years caring for young people: her hundreds of grade-school students, her children, and her many grandchildren. She’s spent those same 40 years volunteering in the cause of life. Over the decades she’s helped open 11 prolife clinics; led and served on the…
Beneath the soil of every continent lie buried the ruins of fallen civilizations. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Mayans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Minoans, Romans: all of them, faded memories of past grandeur and glory. History records the collapse of at least thirty-two major civilizations that once thrived and prospered before our time. No great civilization is built in…
Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher who lived four centuries before Christ, proposed the scientific theory of horror vacui. Based on his observations, he concluded that nature fills every empty space with something, even if it is only air. In his works Gargantua and Pantagruel, the Renaissance priest, doctor and scientist Rabelais popularized this idea with…
“Let not your heart be troubled!” (John 14:1) In the face of growing confusion about the doctrine of the Faith, many bishops, priests, religious and lay people of the Catholic Church have requested that I make a public testimony about the truth of revelation. It is the shepherds’ very own task to guide those entrusted…
Happily married for 40 years, a friend of mine from New York says that one of the (several) reasons his marriage has survived when so many others have crashed is a single, simple act of self-discipline. Every payday for more than three decades, he’s brought home six roses for his wife: sometimes three red, sometimes…
CNA—In a rare new letter penned by Benedict XVI, the retired pontiff said he is in the last phase of his life, and while his physical strength might be waning, he is surrounded by a “love and goodness” that he never imagined. “I can only say that at the end of a slow decline in…
“Why isn’t God answering my prayers? Am I not praying right?” These are very serious questions and deserve honest answers. Many people who pray — including those who pray long and hard — ask these questions from time to time, as well they might. Jesus certainly told us to “pray always” (Mt 21:22, Lk 18:1-18,…
Just days ago Bishop Thomas Daly wrote a clear, concise and thoughtful letter to his diocese regarding politicians who support abortion. It is so refreshing in its clarity that we repost it here in its entirety—as follows: Dear Friends, Each January as the nation commemorates the sad anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, marches…
statement released February 13, 2017 (and worth reprinting)—“The public policy issue of defunding Planned Parenthood was the subject of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations across the country this weekend, including here in the Capital Region. “Without question, Planned Parenthood provides some morally unobjectionable health services to women. However, this statement is not unlike saying that a man…
Fox News and other sources—Bishop Edward B. Scharfenerger of Albany, New York, called out Gov. Andrew Cuomo for citing his Catholic faith and supporting recent legislation that legalizes abortion up until birth. Cuomo (D) signed the Reproductive Health Act on Tuesday, which he called “a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values.”…
It was the celebration that was particularly galling. On the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, signed into law a protocol that gives practically unrestricted access to abortion, permitting the killing of an unborn child up until the moment of delivery. In the wake of the…
Dear Governor Cuomo, Although in your recent State of the State address you cited your Catholic faith and said we should “stand with Pope Francis,” your advocacy of extreme abortion legislation is completely contrary to the teachings of our pope and our Church. Once truth is separated from fiction and people come to realize the…
—Homily Given on the Occasion of the Annual Red Mass for the Diocese of Dallas, Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, October 13, 2018 -28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year “B”— Introduction Your Excellency Bishop Burns, Your Excellency Bishop Kelly, my brother priests, dear deacons, brothers and sisters in Christ: it is a…
When I visited UC-Berkeley earlier this year and met with a large group of Catholic students for a discussion, the first question they asked me was, “What do I tell my Catholic friend who no longer practices his faith because of the scandals in the Church?” Many Catholics have had their faith shaken by the…
August 29, 2018—Dear Faithful of the Archdiocese, Last Sunday witnessed what many are calling a “bombshell” in the Church: the publication of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s “Testimony,” alleging corruption and coverup at all levels of the Church based on his long and extensive personal knowledge. I came to know Archbishop Viganò well during the years…
TESTIMONY by His Excellency Carlo Maria Viganò, Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana, Apostolic Nuncio —Rome, August 22, 2018, Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary In this tragic moment for the Church in various parts of the world — the United States, Chile, Honduras, Australia, etc. — bishops have a very grave responsibility. I am thinking in…
Issued August 27, 2018—In the first place, I would like to affirm my solidarity with Cardinal DiNardo and his statement on behalf of the USCCB, particularly in two respects: 1) In his statement, Cardinal DiNardo indicates that the recent letter of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, “brings particular focus…
My Dear People of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, The recent reports of episcopal negligence and malfeasance in the face of clerical sexual abuse, coupled with some reports of bishops themselves guilty of sexual predation, have reopened old wounds and inflicted new ones on victims, their families, the Catholic faithful at large, and indeed, the…
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ of the Diocese of Madison, The past weeks have brought a great deal of scandal, justified anger, and a call for answers and action by many faithful Catholics here in the U.S. and overseas, directed at the Church hierarchy regarding sexual sins by bishops, priests, and even cardinals. Still…
By Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted The famous Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent nearly 50 years studying the history of the bloody revolution that took the lives of some 60 million of his countrymen. In the process, he read hundreds of books, collected personal testimonies and wrote volumes on the Communist Revolution in Russia. This…
