Author Archives: Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly

About Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly has been the editor-in-chief of From the Housetops magazine and Saint Benedict Center’s monthly Mancipia newsletter since January 2006. He writes the “Kelly Forum” for the latter monogram. Brian was born in 1952 in West Orange, New Jersey. He received his primary education there from the Sisters of Charity at Our Lady of Lourdes school. He graduated in 1970 from the Irish Christian Brother’s Essex Catholic High School in Newark. He spent one year at Kilgore Jr. College in Texas, transferring to Saddleback Jr. College in Mission Viejo, California, in 1972. Prompted by his valiant mother’s insistence, he first visited Saint Benedict Center in Still River, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1973, where he met Father Feeney and the philosopher who was to be his mentor ever since, Brother Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M. Brian spent that two-semester year in Rome studying philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Angelicum. With years of experience in teaching catechetics, including a full course on the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Matthew given to interested adults, Mr. Kelly has been a student/teacher of the Faith for most of his adult life. Having studied theology, New Testament Greek and Latin, and philosophy under the tutelage of Brother Francis, Brian was able to edit many books, including: Father Feeney and the Truth About Salvation by Brother Robert Mary, M.I.C.M., Tert., Brother Francis’ two philosophy books, Introduction to Philosophy (for which he also compiled the Glossary) and Cosmology. He has also edited Brother’s Logic, which has not yet been published. These latter projects were performed around the time that he was editor-in-chief of Loreto Publications (1999-2005). Over the years, Mr. Kelly has spoken many times at the Saint Joseph Forum in Indiana and at two of the Saint Benedict Center Conferences. He has also contributed and will be contributing articles for From the Housetops.

Ursuline Nuns at Dallas Academy Laud Melinda Gates’ Contraception Campaign

LifeSite News: A group of Ursuline nuns whom billionaire Melinda Gates had claimed in a recent speech supports her campaign to inject tens of millions of women in impoverished countries with Depo-Provera and other contraceptive drugs, has issued a statement defending Gates and the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while simultaneously claiming to support Catholic moral teaching. Read more on this here.

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Swiss Guard: Chaplain Takes Their Spiritual Formation Very Seriously

Catholic Culture: The chaplain of the Swiss Guards has revealed that some Swiss Guards have not been practicing Catholics or made an individual confession before joining the corps. Read more here.

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Moslem Persecution of Church Escalates in Lebanon

Catholic Culture: A Lebanese priest who baptized a Muslim woman has been kidnapped and released. More on this here.

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More on Registering Pre-Born for Visitor Count to Tour President’s Home

LifeNews: A member of Congress has a sarcastic take on the controversy generated by the Obama administration over a White House visitors policy that requires pregnant women to register their unborn children when they check in at the front door. Read more here.


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Bishop McManus Asked Not to Attend Graduation at Local Catholic College

Catholic Culture: Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, has agreed not to attend commencement exercises at a local Catholic college, after he roused controversy by opposing the school’s choice of a commencement speaker. More on the why of this here.

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Give Us This Day Our Supersubstantial Bread

In his weekly column for the Washington DC Archdiocesan website, Monsignor Charles Pope raises the question of the meaning of the word used by Saints Matthew and Luke in the petition for “our daily bread” in the Our Father prayer.

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Wales: Education Minister Says Catholic Schools Must Provide Material Favoring Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

Catholic Culture: Catholic schools in Wales have been informed that they must provide their students with a “balanced” perspective on same-sex marriage. More here.

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WH Visitors Office Requires Pregnant Mothers to Register Pre-Born Babies for Tour Count

The Washington Free Beacon: The White House Visitors Office requires that an unborn child—still residing in utero—must be counted as a full human being when its parents register for a White House tour, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Read more here.

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Despite Media Reports, Fate of Chen Guangcheng and Family Is Obscure

UCANews: The fate of the blind and self-taught legal advocate Chen Guangcheng and his family was under the spotlight as US Secretary for State Hillary Clinton visited China last week for the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing. More on this here.

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Beautiful Kiwi Socialite, Oxford Grad, Quit High Life to Join Benedictine Cloister

She could have been Britain’s First Lady but she chose to become a Benedictine nun. 44 year old Laura Adshead dated British Prime Minister, David Cameron, from spring 1990 to summer 1991. In 2008, after seeing her life slip more and more deeply into a spiral of gossip, alcohol and drugs, the dazzling blond decided to take her vows as a Benedictine nun, becoming Sister … More →

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Book Review of ‘Church Militant: Bishop Kung and the Catholic Resistance in Communist Shanghai’

Thomas J. Craughwell for National Catholic Register: No China scholar wants to answer a knock on the door and find Chinese government officials standing at his doorstep. Yet, in 2006, that is what happened to Jesuit Father Paul Mariani. He had traveled to China to research how the Communist Party crushed the Catholic Church in Shanghai, one of the most dynamic Catholic communities in the … More →

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Pope to 26 New Swiss Guards: Strive Toward Sanctity in Eucharistic Christ

CNA reports: Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the new class of recruits for the Swiss Guard to draw close to Christ as they embark on their roles as the pontiff’s guardians. Read more here.

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Self-Professed ‘Devout Catholic’ Biden Has ‘No Problem’ With Homosexual ‘Marriage’

US Vice President Joseph Biden surprised reporters when he said on May 6 that he would be “absolutely comfortable” with legal recognition of same-sex marriages. More here.

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Unprecedented: London to Look Like a War Zone for Olympics

After reading about all this security, including rooftop placed missiles and Britain’s largest air craft carrier parked in the Thames, I am wondering: What’s up? CBS News: In London, where the Olympics begin in 83 days, tens of thousands were on hand for the opening of the stadium that will be the centerpiece of the Summer Games. The British government has been flaunting its unprecedented … More →

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Israel PM Netanyahu Facing Resistance in His Drive for War with Iran

AsiaNews: Israelis will vote in September, one year ahead of schedule. Surveys give the PM in the lead. Former generals and spy chiefs criticise his Iran attack plans, accuse him of being the only obstacle on the path of peace with Palestine. Read interview with outspoken, Israeli anti-war journalist, Uri Avnery, here.

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