The Narthex
Durbin Scandal Follow-Up
Ratzinger clarified, 'Abortion cannot be compared to the death penalty, as if they were the same'
By Sabino Paciolla | October 6th 2025 8:45 PMIllinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, known for his radically pro-abortion and pro-LGBT positions, was originally scheduled to receive a "lifetime achievement award" from Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, this November. This news sparked controversy among Catholics. Fierce criticism has come from U.S. bishops, first from Springfield, Illinois, bishop Thomas Paprocki,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDurbin-Cupich: When Politics Meets Catholic Teaching
Pope Leo XIV found himself having to address thorny issues extemporaneously
By Sabino Paciolla | October 1st 2025 6:22 PMIn the landscape of the Catholic Church in the United States, marked by tensions between social commitment and fidelity to moral doctrine, a development has emerged that has shaken the foundations of ecclesial dialogue. Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, announced his intention to award a "Lifetime Achievement Award" to…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Target' or Man?
Even in war, the enemy combatant is not a thing to be processed by a machine, but a person
By John M. Grondelski | October 1st 2025 11:36 AMWhat happens when the decision to kill is no longer made by a soldier, but by a machine? Yesterday I attended an excellent pair of expert talks on Artificial Intelligence and Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), organized by students in the Politics Department at The Catholic University of America. LAWS…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #28
Back-to-School Guide for Parents... ERA is Dead... Tim Kaine on the Origins of Human Rights... more
By John M. Grondelski | September 12th 2025 6:47 AMBack-to-School Guide for Parents Family Policy Alliance (FPA) is the brainchild of the recently deceased James Dobson. It monitors legislative and regulatory developments with a direct impact on parental rights which, in many ways, is ground zero in the contemporary assault on the family. Make no mistake about it: When…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhat Is 'True Freedom'?
Many hold to a false notion of freedom, one that treats freedom as an end rather than a means
By John M. Grondelski | September 9th 2025 11:39 AMThe Sunday homily usually reflects on the readings for that day. Typically, that means the Gospel and maybe the First Reading, which often is linked to the Gospel. The Second Reading is usually odd man out since in their wisdom the designers of the new Lectionary decided on a continual…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPope Leo Calls 'Lesser Evil' Catholics to Order
"They must have courage: the courage to say at times 'no, I can't!' when the truth is at stake"
By Sabino Paciolla | September 2nd 2025 1:39 PMThe timing couldn't have been more perfect. Pope Leo XIV took advantage of his August 28 audience with a delegation of politicians from the Diocese of Créteil, France, to reaffirm the principles of the Church's sound doctrine, unchanged over time. Pope Leo XIV's speech, extraordinarily beautiful, is disarmingly clear. He…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Virginia School Facilitated Abortions
Will it turn the governor's race?
By John M. Grondelski | August 27th 2025 9:53 PMA controversy roiling in northern Virginia (NoVA) illustrates the dirty, clandestine alliance between abortionists, the political jurisdictions they’ve bought, and the use of societal infrastructure to advance pre-natal killing. Fairfax County, Virginia, is adjacent to Washington, DC. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) operates all schools in the county. All members…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHow Many Murders Make an 'Emergency'?
Real love for the poor is ensuring their neighborhoods are safe, not a murder every 46 hours
By John M. Grondelski | August 18th 2025 11:33 AMThe danger with a status quo is that it “normalizes” the prevailing situation. It makes one think the abnormal is somehow "normal." That’s particularly problematic when the status quo is the result of decades of “defining deviancy down,” as the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed over 30 years ago…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe End-of-Life Debate in Italy
After 'adult Catholics' and 'pro-choice Catholics' we now have 'Catholics of the lesser evil'
By Sabino Paciolla | August 4th 2025 8:46 PMItaly once had so-called “adult Catholics,” a term coined to describe a more liberal approach by some Catholics to ethical and social issues like abortion, aimed at distinguishing themselves from the "rigid" line of the Catholic Church. The expression "adult Catholics" was used by then-Prime Minister Romano Prodi in 2006,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDog Parks
The infrastructure of some cities is family-unfriendly. Catering to canines is the new trend
By John M. Grondelski | July 25th 2025 5:58 PMA little over a year ago, I walked up Capitol Hill one morning behind two female staffers. Most staffers are very young -- generally twenty-somethings -- because they're either college/grad school interns or just graduated. The two young women were sharing one's excitement about moving into an apartment in DC.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #27
Parishes & Commandments of the Church... Adapting Just War Principles... Name-calling... more
By John M. Grondelski | July 17th 2025 5:55 PMParishes & Commandments of the Church Archbishop Edward Weisenberger of Detroit has supposedly told priests to remind Catholics attending Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at one of the four non-parish venues in the Archdiocese where the TLM will at least occasionally be available that those attendees are nevertheless members of some…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAnother 'Catholic' Defends Voting for Killing
MP Chris Coghlan is upset because his pastor called him out publicly & denied him Communion
By John M. Grondelski | June 30th 2025 11:24 AMThe latest self-important politician’s tempest in a teacup comes from the land of tea time: England. Over the weekend, an unknown British Parliamentary back-bencher decided to make a name for himself. Chris Coghlan represents Dorking and Horley, a constituency just southwest of London. He’s a member of the Liberal Democrats,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCatholics Need to Speak Out for Kids
We must not be complicit in political 'discourse' driven by emotions
By John M. Grondelski | June 19th 2025 11:29 AMThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 18 in United States v. Skrmetti that Tennessee’s ban on gender mutilation for minors is constitutional. In 2023, Tennessee adopted SB1, a law prohibiting gender surgery and use of puberty blockers/hormones on “gender dysphoric” minors. The usual suspects sought to block the law, and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDouble Standards for 'Protests'
On applying FACE Act criteria of injury, intimidation, and interference to today's leftist protestors
By John M. Grondelski | June 12th 2025 12:23 PMThe House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday, June 10, to clear a bill (HR 589; linked below) repealing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The FACE Act is a 1994 law (PL 103-259), introduced by then-Senator Ted Kennedy and then-Rep. Chuck Schumer and signed by President Bill Clinton, that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBabies & Politicians
Is it normal to decide about parenthood based on who's in the White House?
By John M. Grondelski | May 29th 2025 11:23 AMCan we have a discussion that prescinds from party identifications, a discussion that involves normal people talking to each other? TikTok showed a 32-year-old teacher sharing with the world her previous evening’s pillow talk with her “fiancé” -- they “won’t be having kids” if Donald Trump’s in the White House.…
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