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November 2019

November 01, 2019

A Litany of Saints for Peace, Life and Conscience

In a time when fear holds so much sway, when violence is so often touted...

August 2019

August 04, 2019

US Bishops Speak on Gun Violence

Every time news breaks of another public shooting, I've come to have the same sinking...

October 2016

October 09, 2016

The Church, the State, and the Sanctity of Life

As I sat down to watch Tuesday's vice-presidential debate, knowing that much has already been made...

April 2016

April 17, 2016

The Value of a Microcephalic Life (beyond the fetal double-talk)

A recent NPR story on pre-natal detection of the effects of the Zika virus caught...

September 2015

September 17, 2015

Abortion as Political Profit: the Unspoken Consensus

There is a timely yet potentially endangered bill making its way from the House to...

June 2015

June 13, 2015

A Proposal for the Catechism on the Death Penalty

A while back I posted a complete transcript of remarks by Pope Francis on the...

May 2015

May 14, 2015

Motherhood and Hard Cases

This Sunday (Mothers' Day, coincidentally or not), a shocking juxtaposition appeared in my facebook feed,...

December 2014

December 27, 2014

The Tears of the Infant Jesus

The word "solemn" has a range of meaning that borders on the paradoxical. Most commonly,...

December 21, 2014

Come, let us keep praying: a lament for late Advent

This summer, as accounts were unfolding of the forced exodus of Iraqi Christians from Mosul and...

February 2014

February 09, 2014

MSW on the Left and Abortion

Recently I wrote a critique of the Pro-Life movement, suggesting that it was in the...

January 2014

January 25, 2014

Pope Francis: Solidly Pro-Life

A oft used joke is to respond to a question whose answer is obviously yes...

October 2013

October 18, 2013

Parsing Papal Popularity, Part II: Is the Pope Catholic?

I must confess, I am a beat behind. Partly for personal reasons, partly for stylistic...

February 2013

February 01, 2013

Guns, Self Defense, and Enemy-Love

Throughout the whole gun-control debate one of the arguments against increased gun control was the...

January 2013

January 25, 2013

Blogging (and Marching) for All Life

To mark the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade this week, the blog of the...

December 2012

December 11, 2012

Breastless

David Gibson highlights a long-missing piece of Christian iconography: At its heartwarming core, Christmas is...

December 05, 2012

A glorious day

On November 29, the Community of San'Egidio held a ceremony in Rome to honor Connecticut,...

September 2012

September 11, 2012

9-11: A Personal Recollection

My wife called me shortly before 9:00 am to tell me that something frightening was...

August 2012

August 06, 2012

“Give Me Christ Or Give Me Hiroshima …”

That line, from Leonard Cohen's haunting song, "The Future," has been replaying in my mind...

July 2012

July 09, 2012

Questions for Conservatives: the ACA

In light of Indiana's continued attempt to ban funding to Planned Parenthood for women's health...

March 2012

March 16, 2012

Race, Abortion and the Military: A Tragic Parallel

As explosive a combination of topics as this appears to be, I am aiming here...

February 2012

February 15, 2012

The New Battle of New Orleans

While visiting New Orleans this past weekend, I walked into the St. Louis Cathedral at...

December 2011

December 09, 2011

Dolan and the Seamless Garment

On December 6, Archbishop Dolan gave the inaugural lecture at Notre Dame for the Project...

September 2011

September 08, 2011

The Wit, Wisdom and Witness of Fr. Greg Boyle

Fr. Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the nation's most successful gang...

August 2011

August 02, 2011

The Path of Life

It is well known that Christianity has had a long history in advocating the dignity...

February 2011

February 10, 2011

Is Abortion a Violation of the 5th or the 6th Commandment?

Recently at Vox Nova there has been a bit of a spat about how abortion...

January 2011

January 12, 2011

Obama’s Remarks in Tucson

This is one of the most remarkable speeches I've seen him give. I have my...

May 2010

May 12, 2010

Human Rights, Not the Rights of Citizenship

An important belief behind the creation of the Declaration of Independence was the notion that...

May 10, 2010

The Lord Is Not Forgetful

We live in a very trying time. Many of the leading nations of the world,...

May 06, 2010

The Newest “Political Hero”: Retired Lt. Col. Allen West, Culture of Fear Candidate 2010

Why is it that pro-torture candidates are seen as "political gold" by some Republican-voting Catholics?...

March 2010

March 31, 2010

More proof that the health care bill is “anti-life”

Truthout alerts us to ten things we didn't know were in the health care bill....