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 The election last week of Senator Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States was, indeed, a historic day for our nation. His election as the first African-American to hold the office of president is a significant step forward for a country that continues to heal from the wounds inflicted by...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

The Catholic Review Last November, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved the document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.” The lengthy title speaks for itself and its 90 paragraphs sought out some elementary and clarifying principles that should be helpful...Read More

The Catholic Review These are uncertain times. Banks are failing, Wall Street is reeling, and the cost of just about everything seems to be through the roof. Talk of bailouts and mergers, record declines and a looming recession—not to mention the fast-approaching presidential election– has much of the nation in a frenzy of uncertainty and...Read More

The Catholic Review This wasn’t the column I had planned – I changed my mind on Sunday, and I hope it doesn’t get me run out of town. I resisted several invitations to see the Yankees play the Orioles this past Sunday in the final game at the “House that Ruth Built” – obligations here,...Read More

The Catholic Review Last week’s column waded into the controversial territory of contraception, the Church’s firm, steady and—I would claim—infallible teaching on the openness to every marital act to both the unitive and procreative meaning that God wills for marital love. The occasion was the recent 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s landmark encyclical, Humanae...Read More

The Catholic Review In my column last week, “Shall we Dance?” I wrote about the just and necessary role that laws play in our lives. From the Ten Commandments to the moral teachings of our Catholic faith, we are better, our society is better, I suggested, for having divine guidance in these matters. I then...Read More