Commentaries
Conscience Rights Violated by Sweeping HHS Contraceptive Mandate
Take Action at www.pacatholic.org by September 30 In implementing the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the new health care reform law), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a rule requiring almost all private health plans to cover contraception and sterilization as “preventive services” for women. The mandate even […]
Society of the Holy Child Jesus Sisters are happy to make a commitment for life
You can count on children to cut to the heart of the issue. Two preschoolers were overheard discussing their grandfather’s retirement: The older sister explained to her sibling, “Now Grandpa has time to play.” The younger child wondered aloud, “Does he know how to play?” The comment, while quite sweet, is also revealing. Commitment […]
Good still triumphed
Over the past few days we have seen coverage from every angle of Sept. 11, 2001. We, as a community of believers, came together to remember and heal. We need to remember, that even in the face of evil that those four planes caused, good still triumphed.
Cyberbullying’s latest victim
Cyberbullying has claimed another beautiful life. This has to stop. It just has to stop. On July 19, Australian teen Daani Sanders killed herself. Her friends say that the Sydney student was constantly bullied online and in person, and that it got so bad that her parents removed her from school and tried to get […]
The important words sound the same
Blisters on my feet, sweat down my back, sunburn on my nose, bruises on my legs, cross around my neck, and a song in my heart: this is how I returned to JFK International Airport after spending 11 days (Aug. 12 to 23) in Madrid, Spain for 2011 World Youth Day.
Prayer: A fitting way to welcome our Archbishop
By this time next week the Archdiocese will have welcomed its new shepherd. Archbishop Charles Chaput already is the Archbishop of Philadelphia, which he became upon the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment July 19.
The first – and last – ‘European’?
One of the great bits of repartee in “The King’s Speech” movie comes as the maverick Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, is just getting to know His Royal Highness Prince Albert, the stammering Duke of York: Logue: “Surely a prince’s brain knows what his mouth’s doing?” Bertie: “You’re obviously not well acquainted with many royal princes.”
The multicultural parish: Learning to expect differences
In a multicultural parish there will be various ways of doing the same activity. Isn’t that why our churches are filled with images of Mary and the saints: St. Anthony for the Italians, St. Hedwig for the Polish and St. Patrick for the Irish? And Our Lady of Knock, of Czestochowa, of Good Counsel, of Fatima? Isn’t that why we have so many different prayer groups, societies and associations?
Catholic Charities Appeal surpasses goal
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of individual parishes, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has surpassed the $8 million goal that was set for the 2011 Catholic Charities Appeal.
New life-affirming law helps grieving parents
By Mary Kathleen O’Connor Mothers of stillborn children endure the unimaginable hardship of carrying a child in pregnancy only to learn their little boy or girl died before birth. For many parents in Pennsylvania, the devastation over the death of their child is combined with confusion and anger that upon the child’s delivery, a fetal […]