It would take too long to point out all that’s wrong with Laurie Goodstein’s New York Times piece, “U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny,” so I’ll cut to the chase. The last sentence of the article reads: But the investigation of … Continue reading
Category: Columns
Brother Francis Health Update
Brother Francis has taken a downturn. We received news last week that Brother has “a couple of months” to live, due to his worsening aortic valve stenosis. This prognosis is from his very competent cardiologist at Cheshire Medical Center in … Continue reading
Not Everyone Happy with New USCCB Document
Just after I posted an appreciation of the recent USCCB document clarifying the Church’s teaching on her mission and the Jewish People, I checked my familiar news sources to catch up on what’s going on. Coincidentally, I discovered that “ADL … Continue reading
Prayers Requested for Brother Francis’ Health
Our beloved Superior, Brother Francis, who will be 96 years old on July 19, is in need of prayers for his health. Brother was in the hospital last week with congestive heart failure, a condition he is prone to because … Continue reading
The Solution to GM’s Problems?
If you’ve not read Brian Kelly’s brief and delightful biography of Venerable Solanus Casey, please do yourself the favor. This Irish-American Padre Pio ought to be better known and loved across the nation. Please Note: if any of our readers … Continue reading
Saint Francis the Doctrinaire
Father Kenneth Baker, S. J., has written a short and delightful review of a recent book on Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach Christ to the Muslims” The volume in review is St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the … Continue reading
Conserving Something or Other
Over at Taki’s Magazine, Charles Coulombe playfully takes readers on a fast-paced romp through the unfamiliar (for most people) political spectrum of what is called “Paleoconservatism.” His article, The Old Paleos and the New, seeks to explain the contrasts and … Continue reading
Much More Than a Game: A Tribute to Baseball
A magnificent writer, Elizabeth Thecla Mauro, has a passion for the sport, and boy is she good at her craft. Her team? The Yankees. Well, that’ll just have to be overlooked. She finds a nobility in the game and in … Continue reading
The Annual Pilgrimage for Restoration
The annual Pilgrimage for Restoration is a sixty-five mile walk from Lake George to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY. For four days, pilgrims attend Mass together, walk, camp, sing pray, and compare blisters! It’s an … Continue reading
Happy Battle of Toulouse Day!
You all know what June 9 is! And in case you didn’t, the ever-helpful and editable Wikipedia will tell you: The Battle of Toulouse (721) was a victory of a Frankish army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an … Continue reading
Dorothy L. Sayers contra Hominem Economicum
A couple of days after I posted a piece quoting Dorothy L. Sayers — and I don’t often cite Anglican novelists — I came upon an article on the First Things site, Dorothy Sayers and Economic Society. It’s a good … Continue reading
Confidence Begins in Childhood
Introduction: This is a short essay, written by my niece, for a composition class she is taking in her first year of college. She got an “A” for it. When my sister gave it to me to read I thought … Continue reading
Bishop John McCormack on Passage of ‘Same-Sex’ Marriage Bill
Manchester — (for news story, see “Gay marriage bill signed into law in New Hampshire“) Bishop McCormack released the following statement today: I am deeply disappointed that the bill to legalize same sex marriage in New Hampshire was signed into … Continue reading
Senator Shaheen and Embrionic Stem Cells, an Email Exchange
I wrote my senator, Jeanne Shaheen, to express my views opposing embryonic stem-cell research. Finding her answer was callous and evasive, I wrote a response spelling out the issue more plainly. The correspondence, minus my brief opening email, is herewith … Continue reading
Boys Town’s Father Flanagan Warned About the Scandal of Irish Reform Schools
That was in 1946 after he was asked by President Truman to take a tour of Europe and investigate their reform schools. Although his condemnation of the physical abuses that permeated the system in his own country could not have … Continue reading
