The Catholic Review It has been nearly two months since I last wrote about the urgent problems facing Catholic schools in our Archdiocese. In my November 27 The Catholic Review column, I shared some of the critical challenges that now threaten the sustainability of many of our schools, including: Enrollment – For the current school...Read More

The Catholic Review One of the most startling truths of New Testament Christianity often reverberates for me. It is from St. Paul and though I’ve not previously observed its emphasis in my homilies or writings, I do so in this column because of the insight it offers all of us as we attempt to understand...Read More

The Catholic Review One of the most startling truths of New Testament Christianity often reverberates for me. It is from St. Paul and though I’ve not previously observed its emphasis in my homilies or writings, I do so in this column because of the insight it offers all of us as we attempt to understand...Read More

The Catholic Review Some months ago I heard a well-known TV news commentator and talk show host, a Catholic, chide one of his guests for not knowing the meaning of the Immaculate Conception. “Every Catholic knows,” the spin master proclaimed, “that the Immaculate Conception means that Jesus was born without sin.” Surely, Jesus was born...Read More

The Catholic Review As reported in The Catholic Review last week, St. Michael School in Frostburg—the last parish elementary school in far Western Maryland—will close its doors for good at the end of the current school year after over 110 years of educating the children of Allegany County in the Catholic faith. Years of declining...Read More

The Catholic Review In this space last week I called on the Catholic faithful of this Archdiocese to continue to claim our legitimate role in the public square, despite the end of the national election, by urging our elected officials to uphold values we believe are fundamental to the common good. Chief among these is...Read More

The Catholic Review Transitions, while inevitable and necessary, often bring about uneasiness in a community as large, diverse and dispersed as is our Archdiocese. Challenging enough to receive a new Archbishop – a New Yorker with military connections, no less! – but barely a year later to take on a new Vicar General and a...Read More

The Catholic Review In the midst of this protracted election season, a seeming division among the Catholic leadership in our country has emerged, representing different approaches to this year’s document of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. Despite these differences, the Catholic bishops of the United States remain totally and...Read More