Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson with a good friend CRUX carries an AP story reporting that President Obama has invited a whole range of religious leaders to the White House to meet Pope Francis. Among those who confirmed their attendance at the White House reception are the Rev. Joel Hunter, an evangelical megachurch pastor from [...]
Faced with disastrous poll results and falling support Queen Hillary has decided to become more warm and cuddly Out with Nurse Ratched and Lady MacBeth. Up with Mrs Doubtfire and the Grandma Next Door. Is such a transformation possible this late in the game? Does it really matter? If Hillary's campaign crashes and burns--which seems very [...]
One of the most troubling things I encounter as a pastor is people's lack of understanding about sin. On the one hand there are folks who don't seem to have much of an idea at all. They come to confession and don't have an idea how to examine their conscience and make a good confession. When they [...]
My article for Aleteia this week examines Pope Francis' pleas for mercy and how they are best balanced by the other need for justice. In the realm of religion there seems to be two categories of people according to two personality types. The first you might call the merciful. They say with Jesus, “Neither do I [...]
What are the factors that attract people to follow Jesus Christ in his church and what puts people off? Here are ten ideas of things you find in a typical Catholic Church or in Catholic culture which are repellent. 1. Self Righteousness - There are few things more off putting than a self righteous know it all. [...]
My latest article for CRUX outlines how the new procedures for annulments will help my as a parish priest. One of the biggest challenges I have found as a relatively new Catholic priest is what I call the marriage mess. On the one hand, I have to support the full, sacramental understanding of Catholic marriage. On [...]
From time to time I receive emails from readers who complain about the state of the church. Maybe they say, "I wish I could be near your parish Father. There is no parish within driving distance where the priest teaches the Catholics faith. It's all fuzzy fuzzy feel good liturgy." Or maybe they complain about lukewarm [...]
Today the Vatican released two documents updating the Code of Canon Law regarding marriage annulments. This is great news for all of those who were nervous about the upcoming synod of the family. As John Allen comments here, these new rules provide the way forward in the thorny issue of remarriage after divorce. There is now [...]
Is Burke the Baddie? This article from the Washington Post gives a typical progressive slant on Catholic news. The headline suggests that "Conservative Dissent is Brewing Inside the Vatican." Ho hum. You can guess the tired narrative: Pope Francis is the great reformer who wants to clean up the corrupt Vatican Bank, open [...]
A reader commented recently that she has a Protestant friend who always refers to St James as "Jesus' baby brother." Maybe, and then again maybe not. The early church taught that the "brothers and sisters" of Jesus were his kinsmen from his extended family--most probably the half brothers and sisters from an earlier marriage of Saint [...]