Card. Müller came out strongly in support of reading Amoris Laetitia last week so I summarized it and commented. On Thursday of last week, Cardinal Gerhard Müller continued his defense of an orthodox reading of Amoris Laeitia in the most forceful manner yet in an interview with EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo. Müller, the head of the Vatican’s …
Category: Current Events
May 27
Overdosing from despair: How the Church can fight the opioid epidemic
An article I wrote a while back was finally published by Crux today. I recently had a hernia operation and was given a week’s worth of opioid painkillers for afterwards. Recovering from surgery, and dealing with the pain and discomfort inherent in such things, made me think about the current epidemic of addiction to painkillers …
May 13
A Texas parish keeps faith after a tornado destroys the church
A story I found and covered on Crux. Simon Salinas heard that a tornado had destroyed his parish church, and knew he had to help. He was with his sister and her critically ill father-in-law in her home during the storm, and they hunkered down in the house hallway and prayed. After the tornado passed, …
May 04
‘Amoris Laetitia’ is about accompaniment, not the divorced and remarried
I reviewed an excellent book on Crux today: When I subtitled my summary of Amoris Laetitia on the day it came out “About Every Family, Not Just Divorced and Civilly Remarried,” I knew the Communion issue was going to be the news of the day, but I didn’t expect it to still be an issue in …
Apr 19
Churches shouldn’t endorse candidates, even if the law allowed
In wake of the impending repeal of the Johnson Amendment, the question of Priests or Churches endorsing candidates takes on new light. I present arguments against endorsement on Crux today. A new tax bill working its way through Congress might change the way religious institutions can engage in politics. President Donald Trump, at the National Prayer …
Apr 05
Superficializing Male Friendships
Recently, The Federalist published a piece about male-female friendships called “Why Men and Women Can Never Be ‘Just Friends’” which was roundly criticized for its conclusions that male-female friendship is impossible. I got this from several people on Facebook and I don’t see a need to repeat. What gets me though is how it reduces male …
Apr 01
Oil pipelines are in step with the church’s integral ecology
I wrote a piece about Pipelines and Laudato Si’ on Crux. With the Dakota Access Pipeline protest, and the recent approval of Keystone XL by the Trump administration, pipelines have been in the news. Most of the time, the talk is about how they are bad for the environment, and protests have in fact stopped …
Mar 28
FORUM: Requiring Genetic Tests Violates Fundamental Human Rights
I posted an analysis of this issue over at ZENIT. In recent days, the issue of whether employers and insurers can require genetic tests has come up in both Canada and the US. In Canada, Liberal backbenchers went against their Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to join with the other parties in passing a bill that …
Mar 06
Pope Francis and his conservative critics are both right… if you accept their principles
I wrote a piece today on Crux. Ever since Pope Francis’s election, and especially since Laudato Si’ and Amoris Laetitia, there have been clear tensions between the pontiff and some more conservative Catholics. I think we need to examine both from within the framework of what they believe the Church needs. I will discuss their …
Feb 28
Reading Amoris Laetitia in Light of Trent
I wrote a piece over at the Catholic Stand. In the debate over Amoris Laetitia, many people have made reference back to Familiaris Consortio 84 where John Paul II commands that for Communion, the divorced and civilly remarried “take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts …
Feb 20
Pastoral handbook on ‘Amoris’ says answer is no on Communion
I summarized an important new book over at Crux: Three professors from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Rome indicate Amoris Laetitia upholds traditional teaching in a new bookAcompañar, Dicernir, Integrar: Vademécum para una nueva pastoral familiar a partir de la exhortación Amoris Laetitia (“Accompany, Discern, Integrate: Handbook for a new family ministry starting …
Feb 10
What if we’ve been wrong about ‘Amoris’ all along?
I published this on Crux. Ever since it came out in April 2016, there’s been an avalanche of debate in Catholic circles about Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’s document on the family. At least in English, both sides seem to agree that it permits Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried who continue relations in some …
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