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Welcome to the Reign of Gay, Ecclesiastical Edition…
In a certain sense, the Sexual Revolution is over; at the very least, the walls have been breached and the consequences are serious and long-lasting. The Reign of “Gay” is proud, loud, and quite unwilling to tolerate dissent or discussion. And until we face that fact and come to grips with the situation as it really is, we will not be able to respond, regroup, and rebuild in any meaningful way. After all, if the kings and queens of this reign—assisted by their grim, willful lackeys—are going to denounce and shout down Andrew Sullivan, who is openly homosexual, what do you think they want to do to the Catholic Church? That paragraph concluded an editorial I wrote ten years ago, in April 2014. Titled “Welcome to the Reign of ‘Gay,’” it drew up Robert R. Reilly’s excellent Making Gay Okay to ...
Cincinnati’s Catholic Xavier University lists abortion in its health insurance plan…
University says it does not cover abortion even though plan says so Xavier University’s health insurance plan not only appears to cover abortion – it looks like the school specifically added it into the coverage. But the Catholic Cincinatti university denies its student health insurance plan covers abortion. A “policy endorsement” on the plan appeared to delete an “exclusion” of abortion. The plan lists abortion as a “Non-EHB [Essential Health Benefit] benefits added to plan via additional endorsement.” It includes, like other covered benefits, the amount the plan pays for in-network and out-of-network providers. The following page shows the “policy endorsement” appears to be signed by university President Colleen Hanycz. “Benefits will be paid at the benefits levels indicated in the sched...
The Fullness of Life: Bishop Erik Varden’s Resurrection of Chastity…
While Lent offers us a clear path of conversion, turning away from the world, Easter invites us into God’s own life. In Lent, we seek to die with Christ; in Easter, we must live with him. It appears an anticlimactic season after the rigors of prayer and fasting, but Lent is ordered to Easter as a period of training to live a more joyful and integrated life in Christ. The word “chastity” might take us right back to the battle of Lent. Isn’t that one of those negative words focusing on prohibitions? The Church’s teaching, however, leads us to a positive vision focused on integrity: “Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2337). This vision focuses more on l...
Can You Really Run on Top of a Train, Like in the Movies?
Just because you see something done in a movie, that doesn’t mean you should try it yourself. Take, for example, a human running on top of a moving train. For starters, you can’t be sure it’s real. In early Westerns, they used moving backdrops to make fake trains look like they were in motion. Now there’s CGI. Or they might speed the film up to make a real train look faster than it really is. So here’s a question for you: Is it possible to run on a train roof and leap from one car to the next? Or will the train zoom ahead of you while you’re in the air, so that you land behind where you took off? Or worse, would you end up falling between the cars because the gap is moving forward, lengthening the distance you have to traverse? This, my friend, is why st...
Cardinal Fernández: New Document on Discerning Apparitions ‘Being Finalized’…
The last time the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a general document on apparitions was in 1978, during the final months of the pontificate of Pope Paul VI. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is putting the finishing touches to a new document that sets out clear rules on discerning apparitions and other such supernatural events. The dicastery’s prefect, Cardinal Victor Fernández, told the Register April 23 that he and his staff are “in the process of finalizing a new text with clear guidelines and norms for the discernment of apparitions and other phenomena.” The cardinal, who met with Pope Francis in private audience on Monday, did not divulge any further details on the document, nor exactly when it will be published. The last time the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a genera...
Pope Francis Gives Interview to CBS News on Ukraine, Gaza: ‘a Negotiated Peace Is Better Than a War Without End’…
Pope Francis pleaded for peace worldwide amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, telling CBS News on Wednesday that “a negotiated peace is better than a war without end.” “Please. Countries at war, all of them, stop the war. Look to negotiate. Look for peace,” the pope, speaking through a translator, told “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell during an hourlong interview at the guest house where he lives in Rome. The pontiff frequently talks about the Israel-Hamas war in his addresses. He made a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine during his Easter Sunday Mass earlier this month. He said Wednesday that he calls parishioners in Gaza every day to hear what...
What should you do if your employer asks you to sign a non-discrimination policy?
DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: Beware the moral pitfalls that can turn licit toleration into sinful cooperation. Q. In a secular workplace, would it be morally wrong for Catholic employees to sign a mandatory professional code of conduct in which they agree to not discriminate against anyone based on a variety of factors, including “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” and “gender expression”? Would acknowledging these terms in writing be considered promotion of the ideology that they represent? What if the alternative to not signing such a code of conduct were termination of employment and/or revocation of a professional license? — Kaylyn A. Since you have no intention of denying any rightful moral or professional claims to your gender-confused colleagues, signing such a document should pos...
What Every Catholic Needs to Know About Conspiracy Theories, and How to Help Loved Ones Who Fall for Them…
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Catholic Answers Pulls Plug on ‘Father Justin’ AI Priest After Social Media Firestorm…
After his fall from virtual grace, the apologetics ‘expert’ to be replaced by lay character. Father Justin, we hardly knew ye. Less than two days after debuting an artificial intelligence (AI) priest character to overwhelmingly negative reviews, Catholic Answers has given “Father Justin” the virtual heave-ho. The lay-run apologetics and evangelization apostolate, based in El Cajon, California, told the Register that it will replace him on its app with a lay character named “Justin” within a week. “We won’t say he’s been laicized, because he never was a real priest!” Catholic Answers said in a written statement to the Register late Wednesday afternoon. “We chose the character to convey a quality of knowledge and authority, and also as a sign of the respect that all of us at Catholic Answers...
On the Vine: Looking Ahead to the Fifth Sunday of Easter…
Readings:Acts 9:26–31Psalm 22:26–28, 30–321 John 3:18–24John 15:1–8 In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine that God intended Israel to be—the source of divine life and wisdom for the nations (see Sirach 24:17–24). In Baptism, each of us was joined to Him by the Holy Spirit. As a branch grows from a tree, our souls are to draw life from Him, nourished by His word and the Eucharist. Paul in today’s First Reading seeks to be grafted onto the visible expression of Christ the true vine—His Church. Once the chief persecutor of the Church, Paul encounters initial resistance and suspicion. But he is known by his fruits, by his powerful witness to the Lord working in his life (see Matthew 7:16–20). We too are commanded today to bear good fruits as His disciples so that our lives...
Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Elizabeth Anscombe, Consequentialism and The Bomb…
Over the past few days, there has been discussion on X/Twitter – and I suppose elsewhere – of the morality of the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not that this is a new discussion, but it rose again because of Tucker Carlson’s strong statement on Joe Rogan’s show that the act was immoral. As I perused various arguments on That App, especially among Catholics, one person I didn’t see mentioned – and this rather surprised me – was Catholic philosopher and Oxford Don Elizabeth Anscombe. Anscombe was a fascinating figure – Catholic convert, student of Wittgenstein, married, mother of seven and important figure in 20th century philosophy. Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. She worked on an u...
The Ancient Biblical Sermons Break All the Modern Rules — So Maybe We Should Re-Examine Our Rules…..
The first reading from Sunday’s Mass features an excerpt from a sermon by St. Peter. The contents of the sermon are very similar to others recorded in the Acts of the Apostles by Saints Paul and Stephen. What is interesting is that these ancient sermons break almost every rule (written and unwritten) of modern preaching! Consider the clip from yesterday and not the areas highlighted in red: Peter said to the people:“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus,whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presencewhen he had decided to release him.You denied the Holy and Righteous Oneand you asked that a murderer be released to you.The author of life you put to death,but God raised him from the dead; of this we...
