In February 1915, only six months after the beginning of World War I, Lancet, a British medical journal, used for the first time the expression “shell shock.” This newly coined expression was used to describe the feeling of helplessness that soldiers felt after exposure to constant bombardment. The term was new, but not the reality.…
The Supreme Court’s recent decisions on abortion and the Second Amendment right to bear arms are finally placing limits on the kind of judicial activism that has made our Constitution and Constitutional law almost unrecognizable. While these two cases may seem very different, the Court is telling us in both cases that the Constitution means…
CNA—Attributing violence against Nigeria’s Christians to climate change is “incorrect and far-fetched,” according to the bishop of a diocese where at least 40 people were murdered at a Pentecost Sunday Mass. Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade of Ondo was responding to a statement issued by Irish president Michael D. Higgins after the June 5 massacre at…
It’s a matter of priorities If you’re counting on dividend payments to supplement your income, then the single most important issue is whether the companies that you’re counting on for those dividends have the financial wherewithal to make the payments. And that’s why we try to ensure, in one way or another, that the companies…
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 31, in the case of NetChoice v. Paxton, that Twitter, Facebook and Google can censor conservative political views, at least for now, while challenges against a Texas anti-censorship law make their way through the Court system. The Court’s decision would seem to condone blatant viewpoint discrimination, including the…
The much-awaited decision of the U.S. Supreme Court case of Thomas E. Dobbs, State Health Officer of Mississippi Department of Health, et al., Petitioners v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, et al. Respondents, herein Dobbs, is expected to be issued in June 2022. There is much public furor by persons on both sides of the issue…
A recent trip opened my eyes and greatly deepened my understanding about the foremost issues in our culture and society today. Let me explain… The Indispensable Role of Women In Today’s Society I have always been a strong believer in the important and indispensable role that women play in our contemporary society. From a woman’s…
“Your complaint is not with the Church; it’s with God,” said then-Archbishop James Stafford, responding to a reporter in the late 1990’s. The reporter had persisted in a series of dull questions on how does the church plan to keep its members when its teachings aren’t relevant to “today’s issues” such as divorce, abortion, etc…
So far, bishops from the following dioceses have expressed public support for Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s banning Nancy Pelosi , who lives in his archdiocese, from receiving Holy Communion in light of her persistent public support of killing babies in abortion while professing to be Catholic: Bishop Barber, Diocese of Oakland, CA: “I support @ArchCardileone…
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops published the first version of Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines in 1986. Last November (2021) saw the latest update. From the beginning, the bishops have wanted to earn a reasonable rate of return and invest based on Catholic moral principles. A reasonable rate of return is one that matches the…
Today the Archbishop of San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, who is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s archbishop, publicly released the Notification Letter he had privately sent to Pelosi more than a month earlier regarding her impossibly contradictory public, unrelenting push for abortion and her very public claim to be Catholic. Read the the full text…
May 3, 2022 BOOK: Angels All Around Us: A Sightseeing Guide to the Invisible World (formerly titled The Invisible World) , by Anthony DeStefano (Doubleday, 2011) I usually don’t read books that are sent to me unbidden. Anthony DeStefano’s Angels All Around Us was mailed to me by Priests for Life, an organization I support financially. If I…
A Federal District Court in the case of Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Joe Biden has held that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) illegally forced passengers to wear face masks on airplanes and other public transportation since early last year. To be clear, this was not a decision that masks do not work or…
Orange County Catholic—What are the riches of the Golden State? California’s beauty, landscapes, diversity, industry and influence are unparalleled. It is the fifth largest economy in the world. And paramount among all this beauty is the inestimable value of each and every human life. Our state is amid a record two-year budget surplus. Proposals are…
CNA—Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, one of the bishops who have signed a letter of warning to German bishops for their proposed reforms, emphasized on Tuesday that the Catholic Church is permanent and enduring. “The teaching of Christ is timeless. It’s not bound by any one generation, any one time or culture,” Archbishop Salvatore…
Government agencies, run by thousands of unelected, unaccountable and mostly unreachable bureaucrats, increasingly affect nearly every aspect of American life. We are forced to comply with burdensome IRS requirements. Businesses struggle under onerous EPA rules. Most recently, we’ve seen heavy-handed vaccine mandates imposed by OSHA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.) And…
A quarter of 2022 has passed, and time is racing on. We are in Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter remind us of the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the desert before He came to Jerusalem to die on a cross, giving His life for each of us. Two excellent organizations providing…
My relationship with New York Times best-selling author and speaker Matthew Kelly dates back to 2004 when another New York Times, best-selling author and friend Patrick Lencioni, brought him to my attention as a potential speaker for the Diocese of Oakland’s Catholics@Work (C@W) Speaker Series. Despite Kelly’s very busy schedule, we were able to bring…
The Consecration of Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope and the bishops throughout the world, joined by the laity, will take place today, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation: March 25, 2022. The Holy Father has asked the Faithful of the world to join him and the bishops…
CNA, Arecibo, Puerto Rico—Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, who was relieved Wednesday of his office as Bishop of Arecibo, said that he feels “blessed to suffer persecution and calumny.” In a letter published on the Diocese of Arecibos’ website shortly after the Holy See Press Office announced Pope Francis’ decision, Bishop Fernández Torres, 57, stated that…
