CNA Columns
'Laudato Si': The Pope and the Court of the Gentiles
Even before the June 18, 2015 publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment (Laudato Si’), the media delighted in... Read more
The green encyclical has arrived!
It’s courageous, it’s prophetic, it’s challenging, it’s holistic, it’s wonderful: That’s what I think of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical “Laudato... Read more
Unsympathetic confessors abuse the sacrament and turn people off
Recently, I had a conversation with a woman who had not been to Confession for ten years because the last... Read more
Fathers and Their Families
From the time of Aristotle, men have reflected on the role of fathers and their family relationships. The philosopher writes... Read more
From hunger to climate change: Transform words into action, says Pope Francis
Transforming words into action to end hunger and malnutrition and to promote sustainable development was the central message of the... Read more
What the Pew Research Center is telling us about religion in America
The first and arguably most important thing to say about the Pew Research Center’s new overview of American religion is... Read more
What 'renewing the Church' really requires
Editor's note: The Archbishop’s following remarks, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, are a condensed and adapted version... Read more
Are angels on the Catholic endangered species list?
In both New Age spirituality and Christian fundamentalism, belief in angels is very high. However, in contemporary mainstream Christianity (including... Read more
Apostolate of the Laity: An Overview
Not until Vatican II was the vocation of the laity brought into sharp focus. Two thousand years earlier, the early... Read more
The Marriage Crisis and the Eucharist
The theme “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World,” suggests that the next General... Read more
The hidden poor of Appalachia
Back in the mid-1980s, I was working as a director of religious education at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in western... Read more
Bruce Jenner, the 'shadow council' and St. Irenaeus
Two news items from last week put me in mind of St. Irenaeus and the battle he waged, nineteen centuries... Read more
The Persecution Has Begun
The persecution of the Catholic Church and other morally conservative religious bodies has begun in the United States. As predicted,... Read more
Beautiful Minds, Beautiful People
Last week’s tragic death of John Forbes Nash, Jr. and his wife, Alicia Nash prompted an immediate outpouring of emotion... Read more
Ireland’s Gay Marriage Vote: A Wake-up Call
Media headlines throughout the world have been trumpeting Ireland’s recent acceptance of same-sex “marriage” as the coming of age of... Read more
What one bishop has to say about Nebraska's death penalty repeal
Nebraska’s Catholic bishops were proud to support LB268, which definitively repealed our state’s death penalty. For months, we worked with... Read more
Stay with Us
The songs of Irving Berlin have woven their way into the fabric of American life. They’re a national treasure. Occasionally,... Read more
A Baltimorean’s reflections on the Baltimore riots
“The God of peace is never glorified by human violence,” wrote the famous Trappist monk Thomas Merton. Whether it’s on... Read more
Poverty, chastity, and obedience are all about money, sex, and power
The evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience correlate with the fundamental human issues of money, sex, and power, and... Read more
Untying Knots
Most of us love television mysteries. We follow our sleuth in detecting clues that will ultimately loosen the knots and... Read more
