Opinion
Church uses resources to proclaim Gospel
You can’t take it with you. Good thing too, because people face so many troubles today that require wise use of money here and now. So it’s timely that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia presents its annual pastoral and financial report to the faithful this week. The needs are great in this region, but so is […]
Husbands are called to be like Joseph
By Tom Mealey When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn’t last long. Misty found out about Natural Family Planning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the “hocus pocus” involving thermometers at […]
A prophetic voice passes, but priest’s words live on
Priest, pastor, theologian, professor, spiritual director, brother, friend. Msgr. Francis X. Meehan was all these things to the parishioners of SS. Simon and Jude in West Chester, to the hundreds of seminarians he taught at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary; to the readers of his column in these pages for 25 years; and to all those […]
Training enlists adults to fight child abuse
The Child Protective Services law in Pennsylvania requires adults who have regular contact with young people to report signs of suspected child abuse to law enforcement authorities. So-called “mandatory reporters” include teachers, school personnel and members of the clergy. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has a policy that includes every adult working with young people. Anyone […]
Pro-life bills move through Pennsylvania legislature
By Joelle Shea The start of the 2011-2012 Pennsylvania legislative session saw movement on several pieces of pro-life legislation. Given the fact that Pennsylvania boasts a pro-life governor and a pro-life majority in the House and the Senate, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC) is hopeful that these bills will become law as the session progresses. […]
China-watching in the Vatican
By George WeigelThe Catholic Difference Whatever its other accomplishments, Henry Kissinger’s new book, “On China,” ought to cause serious reconsideration of that now-familiar refrain, “China-is-the-lead-country-of-the-future.” Kissinger’s analysis of Chinese history has been criticized, as has his reticence about evils like the massacres at Tiananmen Square. But his conclusion – that China’s future depends on the […]
School choice postponed until fall
By A. B. Hill “Hurry up and wait.” That is the sentiment of school-choice supporters in Pennsylvania who are disappointed that the state legislature left for its summer recess on June 30 without passing school vouchers. Yet they are still hoping that legislators will soon respond to their pleas. Advocates have been strongly promoting Senate […]
What’s a Catholic school? National Labor Relations Board shouldn’t decide
John GarveyCatholic News Service Which schools are Catholic and which are not? And who decides? Even the Church’s modern-day efforts to assert itself as the arbiter – beginning with the 1990 apostolic constitution “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” – have proven somewhat controversial, despite the clear reading of canon law: “[N]o university may bear the title or […]
Regulate violent games, for children’s sake
The Saturday morning TV cartoons enjoyed by kids years ago often showed a dark side: Elmer Fudd taking a shotgun blast to the face while Bugs Bunny laughed, or the Roadrunner dropping an anvil on Wile E. Coyote’s head, flattening him like a pancake. Young viewers laughed because these were gags in which Fudd emerged […]
Hubris at the heart of politicians’ downfall
Stephen KentCatholic News Service He “vows to carry on,” the television nightly news anchor said when introducing the piece about Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). Not the best choice of words when reporting about the latest ethically challenged politician appearing on the national scene. His eventual resignation after Herculean pressure, however, came as no surprise. Even […]