The Sexual Abuse Chickens Come Home to Roost: Bishop Moriarty Resigns

Ireland's long running sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church reaches a turning point: Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Dr Jim Moriarty has offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. The announcement was made in the last few minutes following a meeting between the Bishop and Diocesan priests and staff in Portarlington, Co Laois. Bishop Moriarty …

Obama’s Health Care Plan Undercuts Civil Marriage

Or so Mike McManus thinks: While abortion and public plan aspects of health reform have been debated, a far more vexing issue for defenders of the traditional family should be the very substantial marriage penalties buried in the 2,457 page bill moving through Congress. Indeed, the low and middle income subsidies in the "health insurance …

The Canon of the Mass: Canon “C”

The form and structure of liturgies is something that churches which employ these in worship either take for granted or argue over intensely. But very few people understand how a) these came into being or b) how they should be revised or replaced in times of liturgical change. What kind of theology is embodied in …

The Canon of the Mass: Canon “B”

The form and structure of liturgies is something that churches which employ these in worship either take for granted or argue over intensely. But very few people understand how a) these came into being or b) how they should be revised or replaced in times of liturgical change. What kind of theology is embodied in …

Calling the Police on Santa Claus

Only in the UK... The children detained in the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are lost somewhere in the UK's asylum system.  There more about this strange business here. "Santa Claus" is in reality the Rev. Canon James Rosenthal, a world class authority on the original "St. Nick," St. Nicholas of Myra.  I love the …

Using Jesus, Joseph and Mary to Encourage Census Participation

This is another one of those "I thought I had seen everything" kind of moments: In an effort to encourage participation in the Census, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials is distributing this poster (mostly in Spanish) to churches nationwide: Rev. Miguel Rivera, who heads the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, …

The Canon of the Mass: The Anaphora of St. Mark

The form and structure of liturgies is something that churches which employ these in worship either take for granted or argue over intensely. But very few people understand how a) these came into being or b) how they should be revised or replaced in times of liturgical change. What kind of theology is embodied in …

Allan Bloom’s “Baptism of Fire” and Cornell’s Student Protests

Fans of Allan Bloom will find this article a fascinating account of Cornell University's 1969 student revolt: While the administration cowered, many students and faculty members objected. Allan Bloom, one of Cornell’s most popular—and controversial—professors, told the Cornell Daily Sun that he was “shocked” by the agreement, and an unnamed “senior government professor” warned that …

Health Care: Which End of the Camel is in the Tent?

I agree with Grace-Marie Turner that the health care proposals currently bouncing through Congress are overreach.  But I'm getting especially tired of "camel's nose" analogies such as this: When Sen. Joe Lieberman vowed to vote against the Senate bill if it contains a public plan, Reid had to have something to replace it. He revived …

Chandrasekhar Rao: A New State From the “Fast Unto Death” and a Lesson for Christians

Christians who admire the non-violent protest methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King should consider this: Wonder what Mahatma Gandhi would have made of this. India's newest state, its 29th, came about with a local politician, Chandrasekhar Rao, using the Gandhian protest of "fasting unto death". It ended 11 days later with the central …

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