Catholic News & Perspective

November 2019

Nov 29

Opening the Word: Keeping vigilant for the coming of Jesus

By: Timothy P. O'Malley Both political and economic theories presume that planning is a good. A business should have a surplus of funds, saving up for a rainy day. A nation should regularly think through various scenarios related to conflict. One should be prepared for the worst, just in case it happens. Christianity shares something in...
Read More

Nov 27

Tensions crop up as bishops set the course for the future of the U.S. Church

By: Russell Shaw In an action with historic significance, the U.S. bishops at their fall general assembly for the first time ever chose a Hispanic prelate to head their national conference. The vote came as they and the Church face mounting crises on multiple fronts. Elected on the first ballot to a three-year term as president of the United...
Read More

Nov 25

Beauty is the answer to the longing of the human heart

By: Kathryn Jean Lopez They had me at Santca Mariatzine. Although truth be told, that was the icing on the cake, so to speak, of the Mass of the Americas, a gift of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship. They say their mission is “opening the door of sacred beauty to bring people closer to God.” And Santca...
Read More

Nov 22

Opening the Word: Christ alone is King

By: Timothy P. O'Malley While the most recent Election Day is behind us, it’ll be no time at all before our televisions once again will be taken over by the threats and promises of politicians. If we don’t vote for this candidate, then the world will fall apart. But, if we vote for the right person, then salvation is at hand. The...
Read More

Nov 20

Court cases prompt question: When is a child a child?

By: Lawrence P. Grayson Two court cases — one currently being considered, the other soon to be — raise numerous questions about when a child has legal rights and under what conditions. In California, David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt and three others associated with the Center for Medical Progress are being tried for surreptitiously...
Read More

Nov 18

Celebrating the feast of Christ the King

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion The feast of Christ the King is celebrated throughout the Catholic world this year on Sunday, Nov. 24. Easter and Pentecost, Christmas and even Ash Wednesday are ancient observances. Given the long history of the Church, the feast of Christ the King is rather recent. Pope Pius XI established it in 1925. A lesson may be...
Read More

Nov 15

Opening the Word: The Great Conflagration

By: Timothy P. O'Malley Over the last few years, we’ve looked closely at God’s mercy. In this column itself, it has been noted that in Latin, God’s mercy, misericordia, is the movement of the divine heart, the pathos of the triune God for the human condition. God has come to dwell among us, and now through the mystery of the...
Read More

Nov 13

Finding grace in the midst of outrage

By: Dr. Greg Popcak I have a confession to make. This column has been a tough one for me to write. I joked with my editor that I have been so angry at so many goings-on in the Church that, this month, it was almost impossible for me to find just one thing to complain about in 800 words. I won’t bother to list all the things. You know what...
Read More

Nov 11

Should Joe Biden have been denied Communion?

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion The recent report that a priest in the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, refused holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden brought to center stage, once again, the question of how the Church, in its discipline and pastoral practice, should react to political figures who identify themselves as Catholics but...
Read More

Nov 8

Opening the Word: The redemption of death

By: Timothy P. O'Malley Those who attend a Catholic college or university often take courses in the history of the Bible. The student discovers that many of the deepest held beliefs of Catholics have developed over time. Among these beliefs includes the resurrection from the dead. Likely, early Israel assumed that there was nothing beyond death....
Read More

Nov 6

What fruits will the ‘Idol Synod’ bear? Time will tell

By: Christopher Altieri History is funny in the holdovers it keeps from its first draft — journalism — and in those it discards. Salacious or outlandish headlines rightly decried at the time events were unfolding often give events their names. This one might go down in history as the “Idol Synod.” The sham trial of Pope...
Read More

Nov 4

There’s been a lot of talk about priestly celibacy, but what does it mean?

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion Throughout much of October, Pope Francis presided at a meeting of bishops from the Amazon River basin in South America, and many topics were discussed, but the news reports focused a great deal on the issue of priestly celibacy. Some reporting was thorough. Some was not. So, first, what is priestly celibacy? As any...
Read More

Nov 1

The God who loves all

By: Timothy P. O'Malley At the time of Jesus, the Pharisee was a son of Israel who took the Law seriously. Aware of the temptation of religious impurity, the Pharisee lived a life devoted to the Law, fulfilling the Law with even more intensity than required. We might say that the Pharisee approached the Law with evangelical zeal, with an...
Read More