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Thank you, Nancy Pelosi!

Thank you, Nancy Pelosi!

Adoption for Same-Sex ‘Couples’

Catholic agencies have been divided on how to handle requests for adoption by homosexual couples. In recent years, this division has been exacerbated by two opposing forces: On the one hand, governments have begun requiring equal treatment for gay “parents”; on the other, the Vatican has made it very clear that it is immoral to deliberately place an adoptive child with a same-sex couple.

Both candidates stumbled at the Saddleback Forum

The first official meeting of this year's major presidential contenders took place at an Evangelical church. That fact in itself is remarkable: an unmistaken indication of how clearly both major parties recognize the importance of the Christian vote.

Solzhenitsyn's message: the power of the truth

During the past week the CWN home page carried a link to a memorable essay by the late, great Alexander Solzhenitsyn, entitled ”Live Not by Lies.” If you haven’t already read (or re-read) it, I urged you to do so now.

New Mass translation accentuates reverence and awe

Imagine that you are a student in an introductory Latin class, and this phrase pops up on a quiz to be translated: totiusque ecclesiae suae sanctae.

The Problem with Being Busy

The ancients (those wonderful thinkers with plenty of slaves) had the attractive notion that a free man was one who had leisure time on his hands. They even developed the idea of the “liberal arts”, being those studies about the nature of reality which were characteristic of a free man. Slaves, servants and workers needed to study and apply themselves to more utilitarian subjects, which they could use to make a living. The free man was independently wealthy, and he could take time to understand the universe for its own sake.

Toward a Policy on Women

A recent column by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek was essentially an open letter to Barack Obama urging him to pay close attention to the needs of women. Quindlen urged the putative Democratic nominee to speak on behalf of his grandmother, who had no opportunities, his mother, who had few, and his wife, “who because of the newest wave of feminism suddenly had many.” Remarking that for many women, “Hillary was their surrogate,” Quindlen believes that Obama has a chance to be “their champion.”

Same-Sex Marriage and the Mockery of Being

Within a short space of time, the states of California, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland have taken steps toward greater recognition of same-sex marriage. These steps have prompted a number of statements from various groups of bishops around the country, statements which can do little more than offer proper instruction in an apparently losing cause. The same-sex juggernaut rolls on. Why?

Looking Past the Mirror

The Vatican has recently confirmed that anyone who attempts the priestly ordination of a woman will incur automatic excommunication. At the same time, this year’s Lambeth convocation of the world’s Anglican leaders has opened the way for the ordination and consecration of female bishops. To the Anglicans at Lambeth, the issue is no doubt obvious. But the question of the ordination of women is just the tip of an iceberg.

What Makes a Good Priest?

What makes a good priest? I’ve found the answer in fine book by Dominican Father Basil Cole entitled The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood. From the title, you might think the book is about a conspiracy against priests. But that’s only true if you regard the work of the Devil and the temptations of human vice a conspiracy. Rather, Fr. Cole is concerned to explain the vices to which priests are often prone, and which vitiate their ministries. Clearly this also implies a standard of goodness, but let’s take the bad news first.

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