In reflecting on this season of the year, I have often wondered how a Martian reporter would do a story on Christmas in the United States. If one only had the dominant cultural icons of TV, movies, news media and retail stores, my guess is that the Martian viewing audience wouldn’t have a clue as…
The Catholic Thing—Today we begin the liturgical season defined by hope. The preface for Mass says that we dare to hope. Indeed, hope seems a more daring venture than ever. And yet for precisely that reason, it holds more importance than ever. In keeping with Chesterton’s famous aphorism — Hope means hoping when things are…
Bishop Paul Sirba of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota died on Sunday, after suffering a heart attack before offering Mass. He was 59 years old. “It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I must inform you of tragic news regarding our Bishop,” said a Dec. 1 statement from Fr. James B. Bissonette, who had…
CNA—A religious order in southern California is kicking off Advent with a digital calendar that allows Catholics to go more in-depth as they prepare for the Christmas season. The virtual calendar was launched on the first Sunday of Advent by the priests of the Norbertine order from St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California. The…
On Veterans Day, Sunday November 11, 2018, a new portrait of Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno MM was unveiled at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA. The portrait was painted by the Artist-in-Residence of the North American Province of the Society of St Sulpice, Father Peter W. Gray, PSS,…
What is commonly known as the St. Andrew Christmas Novena — or The St Andrew Christmas Prayer— is not a novena (because it is prayed for more than nine days), nor is it a prayer to St. Andrew. Instead, it is a most simple, unusual and beautiful prayer recitation that prepares the soul for Christmas. …
“Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: ‘Ye must have faith.’ It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.” Max Planck, “Where is Science Going?” In Chapter 2 of my web-book,…
Say it ain’t so! Some brands are just so iconic it’s unimaginable they would ever be other than what they’ve always been… And in a world that seems ever more driven by tech innovations and “how fast, how far, how much,” the sale of Tiffany & Co. matters. The iconic older brands with storied foundations…
NY Post—The 5-year-old boy hurled off a Mall of America balcony by a stranger in April is now “walking perfectly” and even back at school, his family says. Landen Hoffman fell nearly 40 feet from the balcony of the Minnesota mall — breaking his skull, face bones, both arms and a leg — when Emmanuel…
Texas native Tim VonDohlen, a long-time Catholic Business Journal columnist, is known as much for his business savvy and significant success as for his profound Catholic faith. That said, life has not always been smooth-sailing for Tim, nor for his wife, even though to meet either of them you would never know. Pat Von Dohlen…
CNA—The Salvation Army has denied accusations that it is an anti-LGBT organization in the wake of the Chick-Fil-A Foundation publicly severing ties with the group. “We’re saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations — areas in which The Salvation Army, as…
The New Atlantis—On June 9, 2016, a law permitting physician-assisted suicide went into effect in California. The same day, Dr. Lonny Shavelson, an emergency medicine physician, opened the Bay Area End of Life Options clinic to provide the newly legal service. A longtime activist for the cause, Shavelson’s interest began in adolescence. In an interview…
BBC—For the first 17 years of his life, Pascal Siakam didn’t pick up a basketball much. It was just a game his older brothers played. Even though his father dreamed about one of his children growing up to play in the NBA, Siakam, the youngest of six siblings, was always more interested in other sports.…
CNA—American fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A has announced it will stop donating to two large faith-based charitable organizations, after years of criticism from LGBT groups. On Monday, the Chick-Fil-A Foundation announced the organizations it would donate to in 2020. Notably, the foundation will no longer donate to the Salvation Army or to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.…
CNA—The Diocese of Peoria announced Monday that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified Dec. 21 at the city’s Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Sheen had been ordained a priest of the diocese in that cathedral Sept. 20, 1919. “It seems entirely fitting that the Beatification will take place at the end of…
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles was elected president of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today during the Fall General Assembly in Baltimore. Archbishop Gomez has served as vice president of the Conference since 2016. Archbishop Gomez issued the following statement upon being elected. “I am humbled by this vote and my…
CNS, Knights of Columbus—Sgt. Gary Rose looked out and saw a wounded soldier 50 meters outside his company’s perimeter, stranded in the middle of North Vietnamese Army machine gun fire during a Vietnam War Special Forces mission in Laos. It was day two of Operation Tailwind — a Special Forces mission to disrupt the enemy…
Beijing, China, Sep 23, 2019—(CNA)—Christian churches in China have been ordered to take down displays of the Ten Commandments and replace them with quotes from Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to reports. According to Bitter Winter, a magazine covering religious liberty and human rights in China, churches belonging to the country’s state-run “Three-Self Patriotic Movement”…
New York City, N.Y., Nov 6, 2019-(CNA)—A federal judge in New York overturned the Trump administration’s conscience protection rule for health care workers on Wednesday. The “Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care” rule was finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services in May and set to go into effect on Nov. 22.…
Spokane, Wash., Nov 8, 2019- (CNA)—For the second time in two days, a federal judge on Thursday said the Trump administration’s conscience protection rule for health care workers violated the law. Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District Court of Washington, an Obama appointee, ruled against the Department of Health and Human Services Nov. 7…
