Commentaries

State senators debate Catholic student stimulus bill

The Pa. Catholic Conference supports a state Senate bill that would make $1,000 per-student available to eligible families to help them afford educational expenses at nonpublic schools.

A most terrible choice, with respect for life

George Weigel praises the "least abhorrent choice” by President Harry Truman to use the atomic bombings in Japan to prevent tens of millions of deaths and bring an end to World War II.

Guns, looting and kids — what’s happening to us?

A baby-faced 17-year-old is charged with murder in a climate where violence is begetting violence. Effie Caldarola says Catholics must be a force for moral clarity as we approach a contentious election and more protests.

A look at new millennium’s fearless future leaders

Present leaders are unprepared for the overwhelming challenges confronting the world today. Father Eugene Hemrick looks at seven traits of the future young leaders who've been tempered by their experience in this century.

In their care of souls, priests are most essential workers

When Father Eric Banecker was told he couldn’t anoint a sick person outside of hospital visiting hours, it laid bare two competing visions of reality, and a realization of the eternally essential ministry of priests.

Digital contraception has disconnected personal relationships

In a way similar way to birth control, media have depersonalized human communication by reducing the messy work of human contact and intimacy, writes Brett Robinson.

Guidance for the Catholic voter’s conscience

Every four years, some Catholics tell other Catholics who they must vote for, but Greg Erlandson points out a U.S. bishops' guide to considering four principles of Catholic social teaching.

Woe to those who gossip

Some of the worst online backbiting spread on Catholic keyboards, undermining the unity Christ longs for in his church, writes Elise Italiano Ureneck.

Debunking the myths of Little Sisters’ unwanted fight

The Little Sisters of the Poor only want to continue to quietly serve the elderly poor. But while defending religious liberty, they've been smeared, and Sister Constance Veit sets the record straight.

For which imperfect candidate should I vote?

Deciding for whom to vote comes down to a voter's "properly formed conscience," say the U.S. bishops, who treat Catholic voters as adults, writes Hosffman Ospino.