Opinion
God is present even in seeming absence
Guest ColumnistMsgr. Francis X. Meehan Remember Susan Boyle? She was the woman who shocked the judges on the British show by her wonderful rendition of the Les Mis song, “I Dreamed a Dream.” It was a thrill to watch the newscast or the Internet video! She steps onto the stage; people’s faces betray a world-weary […]
Report reveals Church’s good stewardship
The pastoral and financial report published in this week’s issue reveals the scope of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s finances as they looked from July 2007 to June of last year. In that fiscal year the Archdiocese expended more than $448 million on a wide variety of social and pastoral services. The three largest expense items […]
Thinking about moral absolutes
Making Sense out of BioethicsBy Father Tad Pacholczyk When Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States in April 2008, I had the chance to attend the opening ceremony at the White House South Lawn. As I listened to President Bush’s welcoming remarks to the Pope, I was caught off guard by one line in particular, […]
Engage with others in dialogue of love
Last Sunday President Barack Obama spoke at Notre Dame University. Ever since he was invited by the university to accept an honorary degree and address the graduates Catholics nationwide, including many bishops, objected to the country’s most prominent Catholic university honoring a president whose positions contradict the core Catholic teaching on the inviolability of human […]
Church offers peace plan with a long view
Pope Benedict XVI completes his trip to the Holy Land this Friday. He travels as a pilgrim to the place from which sprung Judaism and Islam and which witnessed the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the foundation of His Church. Some might have wondered what the Pope or even the Church […]
Click to spread the Good News
Guest ColumnistBy A. B. HILL As the Year of St. Paul closes, we should reflect on the influence of this great saint’s words and deeds. Twenty centuries later, people still convert their hearts and souls to God by reading his influential letters. St. Paul used the tools of communication available to him at that time […]
Theology of the Body linked closely to Our Lady of Fatima
Body LanguageBy Christopher West May is a month that Catholics traditionally devote to honoring the Blessed Mother. One of my favorite Marian memorials falls in the middle of the month, May 13, when we honor Mary under her title “Our Lady of Fatima.” I’m not a big devotee of Marian apparitions, but because of my […]
Provincialism in our Church
Guest ColumnistFather Leonard Peterson One of our archdiocesan officials asked me recently to pen some thoughts on the subject of provincialism. In his ministry, he frequently meets this mindset in groups of parishioners who seem either unable or unwilling to think outside the parameters of their parish to the concerns of the wider Church world. […]
Support the Church that saves children
It’s hard for children growing up these days. The innocence which should be theirs to enjoy as long as possible is increasingly encroached upon by our violent culture. In news broadcasts dominated by reports of crime and violence, children are often the victims. The special report in this week’s Catholic Standard & Times presents five […]
Oz pulls back the curtain
By Mary E. McCluskySpecial to The CS&T “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” mutters the ordinary man posing as the great and powerful Oz in the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz.” This scene recently became reality on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” when Oprah’s star doctor and regular guest, Dr. Mehmet Oz, […]