The stepbrother of William the Conqueror, Bishop Odo, was meticulous in observing canon law. Since a cleric was not allowed to “wield the sword,” he used a battle club. In the Bayeux Tapestry under the scene of him forcing his men into a hail of arrows, are the abbreviated Latin words: “Hic Odo Eps [Episcopus] Baculu[m] Tenens Confortat Pueros” which means: “Here,…
Can a one-day conference at a university breathe life into a cause that lately appears to have stalled: involving the Catholic laity in ending the crisis of authority and trust afflicting the Church in the wake of the sex abuse scandal? If not, here’s hoping that at least it points a way out of the…
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,…
The mayor of a French town commissioned a statue of the rationalist Emile Zola and, intent on provocation, he ordered that the bronze for it be from the bells of a church. Similarly, Governor Andrew Cuomo chose to sign into law our nation’s most offensive abortion bill on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, to ecstatic applause in the…
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…
This past Thursday was the feast of Saint Francis de Sales, whose intercession we need because he is the patron of journalists and there are those who say, with some claim to cogency, that journalism is dead because it is biased and predictable. Ironically, since he was a journalist himself, G.K. Chesterton said that writing…
What started as a modest effort to recruit has become a Collector’s item; a review of “The Vatican Cookbook: Presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guards.” My good friend, Andreas Widmer, a former Swiss Guard and now Director of the Entrepreneurship program at the Catholic University of America, provided my first behind-the-curtain glimpse of the Vatican’s…
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…
Something that happened at a bishops’ meeting nearly half a century ago raises questions about the Vatican’s action last month telling the U.S. bishops to cancel a scheduled vote on two proposals for self-policing on sex abuse. It also illustrates the built-in tension between two interlocking principles – “primacy” and “synodality” – that today are…
The nineteenth-century churchman John Henry Newman has shaped many of my views and how to apply them. With the credit of a second miracle to his intercession, it is likely that he will be canonized in short order. Our culture as a whole is conflicted about the course of events and moral failing in dealing…
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…
Here’s hoping your Christmas and start of the New Year has been wonderful with you surrounded by family and friends. Last year, I offered you some 17 recommendations for success in personal and business activities. This year I want to focus on 3: Dedicate your work (business and family) to the glory of God starting…
The foundational documents of our nation were influenced by Catholic political philosophers such as Aquinas, Suárez, Báñez, Gregory of Valencia and Saint Robert Bellarmine, who wrote before theorists like Hobbes and Rousseau. This contradicts a popular impression that democracy was the invention of the Protestant Reformation. Luther and Calvin considered popular assemblies highly suspect. The concept of…
Life is short. Time is crunched. We each juggle abundant obligations, time-constraints and important demands. As readers of the Catholic Business Journal, we aim to manage it all while well-anchored in Christ and Christ-infused priorities. It isn’t easy. It’s never perfect. Yet even amid the sometimes-messy realities of earthly existence, it is beyond-words important to…
We are in very tumultuous times in the stock market. One day it is down 600 points and the next day it is up 1,000. But this isn’t the time to panic. After 10 years of very cheap money which has driven up asset prices, including the stock market, the Fed has been normalizing interest…
Researching the Birth Narrative of our Lord on the computer can be a source of unintentionally mordant humor. On one of the prominent encyclopedia sites, we are told in the entry for King Herod that “most scholars agree” that he was entirely capable of massacring the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem. But the same source, under…
Christians in the Indian state of Kerala are about 20% of the population. An amateur film recorded there shows some workers struggling with a power shovel to rescue a baby elephant from a ditch. I do not know if they were Christians, Hindus, Muslims or a mix, but they succeeded. The happy juvenile dashed back…
