The Catholic Review As the summer rolls on, I thought I’d offer an update on the recently-concluded consultations with parish lay leaders, which were aimed at helping me and our auxiliary bishops better understand the laity’s opinions and ideas about how best to address the challenges facing our Church today and those which loom large...Read More

The Catholic Review Since the unfortunate day New York passed a bill to redefine marriage, national and local media have poured unabated attention – not to mention pressure – on Governor Martin J. O’Malley to thrust his political support behind this issue. I felt it a serious responsibility to counterbalance or offset “politics as usual”...Read More

The Catholic Review The following is printed with the permission of Karen Terry, Professor and Associate Provost of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and principal investigator and co-author of the Causes and Context report on clergy sexual abuse, at the request of Archbishop O’Brien, whose column will appear occasionally during the summer months....Read More

The Catholic Review With this, my last column prior to a bit of a summer hiatus, I thought I would use the occasion to tie up some loose ends by commenting on a number of topics that have been on my “to-do” list for some time. Deserving of our recognition Catholic history abounds in the...Read More

The Catholic Review Last June, I attended a press conference with Frank Bramble, Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Catholic Schools, to receive the Committee’s recommendations for creating a vibrant and sustainable schools system in our Archdiocese. Bramble, along with more than a dozen respected educational, business, philanthropic, community and religious leaders spent over...Read More

The Catholic Review In 1970, a newly-minted Army chaplain, with airborne wings fresh out of “jump school,” I looked forward to my first leave on the Fourth of July weekend. I was to join a friend at the Boston Commons for the chance to hear the Boston Pops, under the direction of famed conductor Arthur...Read More

The Catholic Review It was 2:00 a.m. I was in the midst of a four-hour layover in the Anchorage, Alaska airport, drowsy and sluggish and looking forward to my connection to Japan to visit our military members and their families. I was in no shape or mood for evangelizing, but off to the side sensed...Read More

“I Have Come to Serve.” The Catholic Review May 26, 2011            It was 2:00 a.m. I was in the midst of a four-hour layover in the Anchorage, Alaska airport, drowsy and sluggish and looking forward to my connection to Japan to visit our military members and their families. I was in no shape or...Read More