The aftershocks of Obergefell will reverberate for a very long time, but what happens over the next few years will be critical. Here I speculate on the immediate political fallout and legal trajectory, and sketch the complexity of the necessary response from churches. Politically, Obergefell puts . . . . Continue Reading »
The day after the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage this summer, I was in line for the Ferris Wheel with my three year old daughter. An insufficiently directive ride attendant left me confused as to which car to enter. Do we get our own? Do we pile in with strangers? Whatever our options might . . . . Continue Reading »
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, many people have been wondering what do we do now. In my just-released book, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, I argue that the pro-marriage movement should take its cue from pro-lifers after Roe v. . . . . Continue Reading »
I first read Jaroslav Pelikan’s The Riddle of Roman Catholicism: Its History, Its Beliefs, Its Future (1959) while doing my pastoral residency in Detroit, 1978–79. I just finished it for the second time. It is still a book with value. Pelikan says one thing in particular that struck me: Any . . . . Continue Reading »
The recent exposure of the trafficking in body parts removed from aborted fetal children has opened many eyes to the inhuman practices of Planned Parenthood. It shows the callousness of the abortion industry and the heart-rending nature in which many women are subject not only to a difficult . . . . Continue Reading »
Back in the day (the late 1960s or thereabouts), Fr. Andrew Greeley—the model of an old-fashioned liberal Catholic—accused Fr. Daniel Berrigan (the beau ideal of post-conciliar Catholic radicalism) of harboring an authoritarian streak in his politics. By which Greeley meant that, were Berrigan . . . . Continue Reading »
Several years ago, I spoke to a group of Christian students at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “Why is it that, in our big public university, the only questions we explore are the tiny and medium-sized?” I asked. “The Big Questions—What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of life? How do I fit in the grand scope of reality?—are off the table.” Continue Reading »
Alexis de Tocqueville famously observed of revolutions that they were both inevitable and surprising, and this is no less true of the recent revolution in Ireland, which “Official Ireland” is now celebrating. Various explanations have been advanced both from those who welcome it and those who . . . . Continue Reading »
We seem to think that we can substitute an irreplaceable and irretrievable beauty with something which we have created ourselves” (Laudato Si, 34).We have now had a couple weeks to breathe, and to begin to accustom ourselves to what can only be called a brand new reality. Never has a pope spoken . . . . Continue Reading »
He was Vicar of Christ for only thirty-three days—heading the tenth shortest pontificate in history—but Pope John Paul I’s impact on the Church has far outlived his time as its leader.Born Albino Luciani in 1912, he grew up in Forno di Canale, a poor region in northern Italy, but one rich in . . . . Continue Reading »
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