Contrary to popular belief, the USCCB does not have the power to tell individual bishops—or Catholic health-care systems—what to do and what not to do.
Many of us have adapted to our consumer culture—a culture in which affluence is morally innocent or even commendable. “More” is taken to be a universal aspiration.
One always has to consider the cultural background of a vow. A vow made in our culture today means something different from one made in our culture fifty years ago.
On the thirtieth anniversary of Joseph Bernardin's lecture on the consistent ethic of life, four contributors reflect on its meaning for today's church.
Unless the exchanges make clear which plans cover elective abortion and which don’t, the ACA’s requirement that insurers segregate abortion funds makes little sense.
The spirituality at the heart of each child cries out to be nourished; helping children develop their sense of wonder through play will go far in this regard.
Every poll shows the nonreligiously affiliated—now called “nones”—increasing in number. That number includes all my grown children. But it wasn’t always this way.
Any discussion of the relationship between celibacy and priesthood needs to distinguish between three different “logics” that have governed the practice of celibacy.
At a time when most schools are serving larger geographic areas, it might be a good idea to take a look at how dioceses structure their educational systems.
Tempted as I am to recommend those I give as presents year after year, I’ll offer instead some very recent books that have already earned a home on our bookshelf.
Thirty years later one wonders how many recall the debates the lecture engendered. It bears re-reading; the challenges it poses may be even more pressing now.
We are that family, the one with the very young, very active children who decided to come to your quiet, even somnolent Mass. We did not sit in the crying room.
J. Peter Nixon in the first in our series: "I have tried to live my faith in a way that would make it attractive to my children. Now and then I feel it’s working."
These are days of hope for American Catholics, yet the Church in the United States and elsewhere is struggling to recover an effective voice in public affairs.
