“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” No doubt this truism was at the top of Newt Gingrich’s mind as he responded to John King’s lead off question in the CNN Republican debate in South Carolina last week. Marianne Gingrich, the second ex-wife of thrice married Newt, alleged in an interview with ABC News […]
I came to bury Caesar, not to praise him, and wound up praising him. I had my skewers ready and planned to make shish-kabob out of this film. But I cannot. Why was I all set to hate on this film? I thought it was “Just Another Sad Tale of a Dysfunctional Family Where Dad […]
Unexpected things happen all the time but certain things have the power to convey a message to the collective psyche of a nation. Less frequently there are events that can alter the course of human affairs on a planetary scale. The killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand that ushered a century of unspeakable violence was one […]
I hate people, and it turns out that might be a registered trademark. Let me explain. My daughter Kerry talked us into driving down to Lafayette Square [one] Sunday [last month] to get brunch. Lafayette Square is a trendy St. Louis neighborhood where rehabbers live, surrounded by the ghetto on four sides. But once a year all […]
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an op-ed in today’s New York Times by Sara Ritchey: The Vatican recently announced that it is going to facilitate the process of allowing former Episcopal priests and congregations to enter the Roman Catholic Church as intact groups. “What will life be like for the wives of Roman Catholic priests?” […]
Just to clarify; I was the one in the sweats and athletic shoes. Likely the Cardinal–more precisely Cardinal-designate–was in his clerical shirt, pectoral cross and other black garb, fitting for a man of his office. And, I suppose I didn’t really “meet” him, since we already knew each other; I had met Archbishop Timothy M. […]
Did you wish all your Facebook friends a Merry Christmas? Sure you did. And probably clicked over to Linkedin, Google+, and Twitter too. Or maybe I am leaving out your favorite social media hangout. Social media is an important part of the online day for many of us Catholics and for many of us it […]
The story of the launch of Catholic World Report in 1991, and its relationship with 30 Days and with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI As we announced in our October issue, this December 2011 issue will be CWR’s last as a print magazine. Starting in January 2012, CWR will be published exclusively online, […]
The Culture of Death reminds me of the dragon from the Book of Revelations; it is an “enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns” (NIV Rev 12:3). Two items in this week’s news reveal just how the Culture of Death masquerades as something supposedly good as it rears two of its ugly heads—the […]
I have not been shy in my criticism of Muslim extremists who hate Israel and equally loathe the United States. Nor have I been reluctant to condemn Islamism: Sharia law is totalitarian. Furthermore, I am not opposed to boycotting sponsors of TV shows that bash Catholicism (I have led such initiatives). But count me out […]
Shortly after 9/11 an acquaintance of mine pointed out that while their cause was obviously wrong, there was something to be admired about the single minded determination with which the attackers carried out their mission. Being a devout Catholic, he even doubted that God would be harsh when judging such sincerely committed souls. The idea […]
Something is very wrong when priests join forces with gay activists in any cause whatsoever. The presumption must be that the priests in question are sympathetic to gay activism, and this constitutes scandal. That’s why I was glad to see Cardinal Sean O’Malley stand by the editor of his diocesan newspaper when some priests joined […]
Here we go again. A powerful, intelligent and charismatic conservative black man seeks high office in the United States of America, and is subject to the scurrilous slings and arrows that are always deflected from their liberal counterparts by the shields of the mainstream media. In our nation, where the election of Barack Obama might […]
What do a 70-year-old widow and a 45-year-old father of five have in common? Three things: They both reside in the Archdiocese of Atlanta (the fastest growing archdiocese in the country), they are long time friends and they both had a goal of starting a Catholic radio station in their diocese. After much prayer, Mark […]
This week’s episode of Fox Television’s prime-time musical comedy show Glee featured two teenage couples, one heterosexual and one homosexual, engaging in sex for the first time. Titled “The First Time,” the episode depicted two couples – a young man and woman, Finn and Rachel, and two young men, Kurt and Blaine – each losing […]
[On Monday], the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a press conference in front of the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to bring attention to a case involving an Episcopal priest, Bede Parry, who is being charged with molesting young boys while he was […]
I wish, as I first read the article by Marybeth Hicks, “Some Belated Parental Advice to Protestors”, that I had stayed calm long enough to read the blurb after the article and to realize that it was actually written for the Washington Times, not for a Catholic publication. I only realized this when I read James […]
Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at Marybeth Hicks’ article without wondering, “What is this piece doing on a Catholic website? To be fair, the article was written for the Washington Times where it possibly feels more at home in the larger context of her “conservative” political column. Hicks has described that her […]
How would you like to be splashed with water as you walk down the street? In Poland, that’s how they say, “Happy Easter!” If you had read last Easter’s issue of St. Mary’s Messenger magazine for children, you would have known that. I recently stumbled upon St. Mary’s Messenger through a phone call from Kris […]
Draw yourself an organization chart representing the Catholic Church. What you’ll get is a sketch of an ecclesiastical institution that on paper looks like a genuine world class internal communication machine. Those boxes and lines could lead the beholder to suppose that if the Pope says something on Monday morning, then by the following Sunday […]
The media likes 40 Days for Life — and we have the abortion industry to thank. No, I have not lost my mind just four days into the campaign! Yes, I know at the national level, the media seems to have an agenda that’s radically in favor of abortion. But I’m seeing 40 Days for […]
So plopping your preschooler in front of the television to gawk at “SpongeBob SquarePants” — a frenetic cartoon featuring scene changes every 11 seconds — impairs his attention span. Who could have guessed? This astonishing revelation comes courtesy of the Pediatrics journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The journal recently published a study showing […]
Really, how important are the words we use? Here’s what Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36 & 37: But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will […]
I was ten years old on November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. Forty-eight years later, every detail of what I was doing as the news unfolded on that infamous day remains vividly engraved in my mind’s eye. Every generation seems to have these […]
