The Narthex

Illinois 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,…

Pope Leo XIV’s premier apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, on the poor, is due for release Thursday, though it was signed October 4. I have no insight into what it may contain and look forward to reading the Pope’s document. I do not prejudge what it might say. That said, I…

In 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…

What 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…

One of God’s attributes -- omnipotence -- generates all sorts of ideas, many of them mistaken. That’s why the Collect from last Sunday’s Mass (26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C) provides an eye-opening perspective: O God, who manifest your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy... God’s…

Last Sunday’s First Reading was the prophet Amos decrying the religious hypocrisy and wage injustice rife in the Israel of his day. His indictment reads:

“When will the new moon be over," you ask, "that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the…

Last Sunday’s Second Reading -- for the Exaltation of the Cross, which preempted the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time -- was St. Paul’s great hymn of Jesus’ self-emptying, his kenosis (Phil 2:6-11). One of the key texts in that hymn is verse 6, where Jesus is presented as treating divinity…

The 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…

A recent tempest in the social-media teapot concerns intersections. Not the kind that over-credentialed academics spin dissertations about in the name of “critical racial theory,” but the literal ones you walk across: crosswalks. Some jurisdictions decided to “celebrate Pride” by painting pedestrian crossings in rainbow colors. The Trump Transportation Department…

The 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…

Two days ago, alongside President Trump’s announcement to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., which could include dismantling homeless encampments, I tweeted “streets are thoroughfares, not beds.” In my follow-up on this site, I also identified the local Catholic Church as a possible critic, especially if “law enforcement includes cleaning…

Governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania have announced they are providing free breakfasts to all kids in schools of those states because kids should not be in school with “empty bellies.” Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is introducing legislation to declare public transit free because…

News sites and gossip boards are spilling over with talk about Jeffrey Epstein. The American government, one of the most morally debased institutions to ever exist, is busy denying what is obvious to almost everyone else. Epstein (1953-2019) was a human trafficker, sex abuser, blackmailer, and probably double or triple…

The 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…

Do you know what a “stander” is? A “stander” is apparently the left-behind spouse after a divorce who, nevertheless, remains faithful to his or her marriage vows despite abandonment by the other party. I had never heard that term until I read Leila Miller’s great essay, “Six Uncomfortable Facts about…