Commentaries
Put the needle down: City must drop plan for safe injection sites
Greenlighting safe injection sites in Philadelphia to counter an alarming number of opioid overdoses and deaths is wrong because the sites enable drug usage, writes Gina Christian. Harm reduction is too simplistic a strategy for so complex a problem as addiction.
In their mission and impact, Catholic schools ‘look like America’
For over 200 years, Catholic education has fostered academic excellence and faith in children from all segments of American society, writes Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas. He urges all to get involved and advocate on behalf of Catholic schools.
Are we empowering women, or the men who patronize them?
If bills that mandate abortion coverage are approved, we cannot say of predatory males that "their time is up," writes Richard Doerflinger. Their time has arrived -- wrapped in the guise of "empowering" their victims.
Broadening the pro-life witness
The unusual move of a bishop boycotting a pro-life rally turned on a speaker's support of the death penalty. Greg Erlandson writes of how the pro-life movement is increasingly focusing on how society disposes of people it does not value.
Pay attention to a world filled with signs of God all around us
Brett Robinson's family had a strong devotion to St. Therese, so when a loved one had cancer, they prayed for her intercession. From the tuberculosis that killed her came today's best treatment for the cancer.
‘Dreamers’ reveal nightmare of broken immigration system
Youth with DACA status are Americans in all but legal status, writes Father Gus Puleo. The federal government's inability to grant them citizenship reflects a crisis in immigration law and political partisanship.
Why are we so lucky? Take a look in the family mirror
The great-grandfather of writer Effie Caldarola overcame a political climate that denigrated the Irish whose country had become unlivable and wretched. She owes him a debt of gratitude and sees a lesson for today.
How can the church support young people during the ‘defining decade’?
The shift to "delayed adulthood" in the U.S. means that pastoral approaches to youth need to be rethought, writes Jonathan Lewis. More than ever, parishes should closely accompany young adults through their 20s to enable them to discern God's will for their lives.
About praising famous men
A new book about Ulysses S. Grant shows him as both hero and flawed man with impressive virtues. That is the best we can hope from the people we praise, writes John Garvey, as we weigh the evidence.
Assisted suicide: It’s about all of us
"Terminal diseases" like depression, lack of wealth and old age can lead to a quick death under Oregon's physician assisted suicide law, writes Richard Doerflinger. That is why it's a matter of justice for all of society.