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Will the defense of marriage be the hill on which you die? If so, you will be sustained by a great and mighty cloud of witnesses…..
Will the defense of marriage be the hill on which we Catholics die? Of course, that rather depends on how willing we are to stake everything upon a truth that, however much we believe it to be grounded in divine revelation, is nevertheless rejected by almost everyone else, including great numbers of our fellow Catholics. Which would be Joe Biden Catholics, wouldn’t it? Countless cafeteria Catholics, as it were, whose numbers, to judge by current approval ratings, appear to be legion. Are we prepared to stand against these people for the sake of a mere marital bond? Do we really believe, in other words, the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the union of one man and one woman? That it constitutes a sacrament indissoluble in the sight of God? And will we, in mounting its defense, be ...
Behind Bill W. and Alcoholics Anonymous there was a Catholic priest — Father Ed Dowling…
On a cold night in November 1940 in New York, a meeting took place between two men. It would wind up affecting U.S. history and changing the lives of millions of people, most of them alcoholics . The meeting was between Bill Wilson, who a few years earlier had founded a group called Alcoholics Anonymous, and a Jesuit priest named Father Ed Dowling. Wilson’s cause of helping drunks get sober was the result of a religious experience that freed him of his addiction to booze. But the program was not going well. The “Big Book,” his Bible outlining his 12-Step program, was not selling. Wilson was tired of dealing with drunks. He was depressed. Then a visitor arrived at his door. Dowling, a Jesuit priest, would be essential in helping Wilson gain the strength to carry on. He would also be essenti...
How steep is Poland’s drop in Mass attendance?
Around 28% of Poland’s Catholics attended Mass in 2021, according to the latest official statistics. The new figures were said to indicate a “dramatic fall” in church attendance in one of Europe’s most Catholic countries. So, what does the new data say? How do researchers interpret it? And what is the Church doing in response to the decline? The Pillar takes a look. What the figures say On Jan. 13, the Institute for Catholic Church Statistics (ISKK) released its 2021 “Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae in Polonia,” a yearly numerical overview of Poland’s Catholic Church. Since 1980, the institute has reported the percentage of “dominicantes” (Sunday Mass-goers) and “communicantes” (recipients of Holy Communion) out of the total number of baptized Catholics who are able to fulfill the obligati...
Are younger Catholic priests growing more conservative?
Father Alessandro da Luz elevates the chalice as he celebrates a traditional Latin Mass Aug. 11, 2020, at Our Holy Redeemer Church in Freeport, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz) In the wake of the deaths of Pope Benedict XVI and Australian Cardinal George Pell, media outlets — both Catholic and secular — have featured significant commentary about the political and theological divisions in the Catholic Church. One month ago, those themes were taken up in the Wall Street Journal. “American Catholic priests are becoming more conservative, even as their flocks are becoming more liberal,” wrote Francis Rocca on Dec. 18. To further investigate the claims of the article, Our Sunday Visitor consulted Stephen White, director of the Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America on the que...
The good news: Prince Harry would make a great Episcopalian. The bad news: Prince Harry would make a great Episcopalian…..
If low-church Anglican evangelicals were active in the whole naming-saints thing, you know that the process would already be in motion to honor Queen Elizabeth II. The quiet dignity of her Christian faith was at the heart of her long life of service. This brings us to what I would argue is a valid religion-angle story linked to “Spare,” the tell-all confessional memoir Prince Harry has released from the media-friendly alternative palace that he is creating with Meghan Markle here in America. Here is the basic question: In what church will Harry and Meghan raise their children? This points, of course, to broader questions about the seismic changes inside England’s Royal Family after the passing of Elizabeth the Great. Yes, some of these questions are linked to the complex ecumenical history...
Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, Bans Use of Puberty Blockers, Transgender ‘Preferred Pronouns’ in Schools and Parishes…
According to Cox, the new policy on transgenderism was developed at the request of the diocese’s schools and with the cooperation of school leaders and parents. The Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, has banned the use of puberty-blocking drugs, transgender pronouns, and the use of bathrooms opposite of one’s biological sex as part of an effort to “welcome and minister to those coping with gender dysphoria while following Catholic Church teaching,” a diocesan representative told CNA. The new policy, which went into effect Monday, consists of seven new rules regarding transgender ideology at the diocese’s 17 schools (including two high schools) and 80 parishes. The policy on “designations and pronouns” bans the use of preferred pronouns that contrast with the person’s biological sex on school cam...
St. Anthony the Abbot, a holy death, and a blubber bomb…
Hey everybody, Today is the feast of St. Anthony the Great, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. The saint we celebrate today is remembered throughout the Church as the “father of monasticism,” or the “father of all monks,” — and really, he deserves that title. But Anthony is really the reluctant father of those monks, and that’s worth noting. Here’s what happened: Anthony was born in the third century, to a wealthy family of Christians in southern Egypt. When he was 20, his parents died suddenly, leaving Anthony to care for his young sister. But soon after, Anthony was attending the Divine Liturgy, when he heard these words read from the Gospel: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” They struck the young man ...
Two comparatively quiet deaths are the key to a deafening Catholic story…
Listen to this story: ROME – Recently the Catholic world has marked the death of two high-profile figures, Pope Benedict XVI and Australian Cardinal George Pell, each of whom leave behind a deep imprint on the history of their times. Both are loved and revered by admirers, but because both held leadership positions, both had what would conventionally be described as a conservative agenda, and both were associated with the clerical abuse scandals, they were also highly controversial. Commentary about both deaths has generated considerable sound and fury, much of it laudatory and, equally, much of it bitterly critical. As the same time, there have been two other Catholic losses of late, neither one of which has had much echo outside their own home towns. On Jan. 12, a Catholic layman named B...
Rise in middle-aged white ‘deaths of despair’ may be fueled by loss of religion, new research paper argues…
So-called deaths of despair such as from suicide or alcohol abuse have been skyrocketing for middle-aged white Americans. It’s been blamed on various phenomenon, including opioid abuse. But a new research paper finds a different culprit — declining religious practice. The working paper, from Tyler Giles of Wellesley College, Daniel Hungerman of the University of Notre Dame, and Tamar Oostrom of The Ohio State University, looked at the relationship between religiosity and mortality from deaths of despair. The paper was circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors noted that many measures of religious adherence began to decline in the late 1980s. They find that the large decline in religious practice was driven by the group experiencing the subsequent increases in mort...
George Cardinal Pell: Australia’s Christian Prince…
COMMENTARY: Cardinal Pell modeled the classical Ignatian spirituality that was trained to ‘give and not count the cost,’ ‘to fight and not heed the wounds.’ Cardinal George Pell was no doubt the most internationally high-profile Australian cleric in the country’s history. Within Australia, he was despised and even hated by the kinds of cultural Marxists who are dominant in the media and other switch points of cultural influence. He was hated because he was the most outspoken champion of orthodox Catholicism. Conversely, he was loved and revered by faithful Catholics, especially by Catholics of the younger post-conciliar generations, precisely because he was such a strong defender of the faith. Sadly, many upwardly socially mobile Catholics of his own generation feared that his ...
The world’s oldest person, 118-year-old Sister Andre, has died in France. She became a nun 79 years ago, during World War II…..
PARIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – French nun Sister Andre, the world’s oldest person, passed away at 118 in France, her retirement home told Reuters on Tuesday. Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, had survived COVID last year. She was born on Feb. 11, 1904, and was the world’s oldest living person according to the Gerontology Research Group’s (GRG) World Supercentenarian Rankings List. Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro Editing by Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
In New Court Filing, Theodore McCarrick’s Lawyers Say He’s Not Competent to Stand Trial…
A new court document was filed Jan. 13 in Dedham District Court in Massachusetts. Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is in “significant” mental decline and may not be fit to stand trial for allegedly sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, his attorneys say in a new court filing. The legal team for the 92-year-old ex-prelate said it plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, citing a neurological exam conducted by Dr. David Schretlen, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The exam took place on Dec. 5, 2022, at a facility in Missouri where McCarrick is living. The results show McCarrick to be suffering from “significant neuropsychological deficits” that “appear to have started relatively recently, to be worsening rapidly, and to impa...
