So begins a 60-second episode of The One-Minute Monk,  which premiered on Catholic radio across the nation in June and July.  In short segments of just sixty seconds, Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey (a 132-year old monastery located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina) provides insights into how to cope with modern life […]

Despite a huge outcry from businesses, religious leaders and citizens, earlier this year the Gainesville, Florida, City Council - in a midnight session - made it legal for men who perceive themselves as women to use women’s bathrooms in any business or public facility.  However, a successful petition drive by “Citizens For Good Public Policy” […]

Two weeks ago, the American Psychological Association plunged headlong into controversy with the release of a report from the Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion.
The panel, chaired by University of California psychology professor, Brenda Major, produced a 91-page report with several conclusions. Principally, the APA reported that:
The best scientific evidence published indicates that among […]

The Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SOG) has issued a statement that accuses the drafters of the Unborn Victims of Crime bill with conspiring to remove the “right” of a woman to kill her child at will by abortion up to the end of natural gestation, as Canadian law currently allows.The SOG wrote, “This […]

The California legislature has decided that the state should push patients to choose being put to death as their preferred healthcare option. That is the way I read the “Terminal Patients’ Right to Know End of Life Options Act”, also known as Assembly Bill 2747.
According to a report published by WorldNetDaily, the bill would allow certain […]

 The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more popularly known as the Orthodox Union, or O.U., and Agudath Israel of California, an ultra-Orthodox group, have joined a coalition of California religious groups supporting Proposition 8, which, if passed in November, would reverse the California State Supreme Court’s May 15 ruling that gave homosexuals the […]

When MSNBC’s Chris Matthews suggested in Denver that Barack Obama earned his present elevation in American politics, unlike “showcase appointments” like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, he reminded the world of the peculiarity of liberalism. John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate underlined it. Liberals find no joy when Republicans select […]

On August 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Tom Brokaw on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Catholic Church has not been able to decide when life begins; she was quickly criticized by many bishops and lay Catholics (including the Catholic League) for misrepresenting the Church’s teaching. No source of criticism was more important than […]

[S]eeing that time seizes upon all things human, we also in turn ought to snatch from it something which may profit us to eternal life, especially since a certain awful expectation of the approach of the divine judgment importunately demands increased earnestness in religion, while the subtle craftiness of new heretics calls for no ordinary […]

Why is it that my sons can’t whisper when they wake up?  Why must they leap from bed, yelling at the top of their lungs, bickering with each other?  Isn’t that bad for them?  Doesn’t it give them a headache?  I know it gives me one.
The thing is, even if I am well rested and […]

The American Psychological Association (APA) has arbitrarily decided that abortion doesn’t hurt women. Ever.
In a new draft report on released on August 12th by the secretly appointed “Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion,” the APA flatly claims that there is no evidence that abortion leads to psychological problems in women. According to the APA, […]

When you look up the word bop in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you find that, when used as a verb, the word is defined as “hit” or “sock.” In other words, the word means to knock around or knock out, depending on the severity of the blow.
Well, I thought that was an appropriate way to describe […]

Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa has joined his brother bishops in telling Nancy Pelosi that she cannot be Catholic and support abortion. Slattery, spiritual leader of Tulsa’s 56,094 Catholics, called Pelosi’s statements confusing and scandalous.”Beginning in the first century and in every epoch since, the church has taught the sanctity of […]

Keith Fimian, the Republican candidate for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, has been targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in a series of mailings and video clips. He is accused of “rolling back women’s rights.” The basis of the accusation is Fimian’s membership in a Catholic organization, Legatus.
Speaking to this issue today is Catholic […]

In a surprise victory against government officials who sought to prosecute a homeschooling family for refusing to participate in the public school system, David and Jonatas Nunes have passed tests proving a high level of knowledge in a variety of subjects, including history, the natural sciences, the arts, sports, computing, and mathematics.The tests given to […]

Anyone who has lived in a minister’s house knows that  middle-of-the-night telephone calls often bring bad news.But for many pastors there is one kind of call that is uniquely  painful.
There are times when the shock of death is easier to handle  than questions about eternal life.
“It happens like this,” noted the Rev. J. Gerald Harris, […]

Then the LORD said, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.” A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD–but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake–but the LORD was not in the […]

Babies are very special.  No matter what kind of mood I’m in or what mischief the older children have perpetrated, I always seem to have a smile for the baby.  The fresh innocence and complete dependence, the absolute trustfulness, all which are expressed so eloquently by a pair of bright, curious eyes, somehow irresistibly draw […]

 I was very intrigued by a few news reports that crossed my “e-mail desk” this week. I guess that’s how you have to view e-mail these days - few write you a real letter anymore, and everyone who does send e-mail wants a response immediately. Well, in my case, they have to wait because this […]

The Philippine Court of Appeals recently rejected claims made by a radical pro-abortion group based in New York. The court dismissed an effort seeking to overturn an executive order promoting natural family planning.  The petition was filed earlier this year by a group of Manila residents who relied heavily on legal advice and material from […]

An upstart homosexual rights group in California has begun to target not only individuals, but also companies to which they are connected, if they have contributed money to committees that support Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to ban same-sex “marriage” in California.The Wall Street Journal reports that Californians Against Hate, a new homosexual-rights group, intends […]

All Henry Poole wants to do is to be left alone. In most neighborhoods, this would not be a problem, but, in this unpretentious LA neighborhood, for some odd reason, people care.
It begins with his perky real estate broker Meg, (Cheryl Hines) who is baffled by Henry’s insistence on buying a certain home which isn’t […]

Barack Obama’s campaign has been seriously frightened by John McCain celebrity-mocking ads. Those celebrities were virtually nowhere to be found for most of the Denver convention. While the Obama machine may control the inside of the convention, outside these celebrities are clearly out of control — again.
That overbaked tart Madonna kicked off her latest concert […]

Republican John McCain has picked first-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his surprise choice for a running mate, in a move hailed by conservative leaders as “absolutely brilliant” and “electrifying” conservative voters, especially women.Gov. Sarah Palin, known for her traditional and unabashedly pro-life and pro-family views, is the mother of five children, including her youngest […]

Prepare yourself to be profoundly moved. It’s nearly impossible to read Christopher West’s new book, Heaven’s Song without a radical regeneration of your view of marriage, and it’s relationship with the Church. It’s no accident that George Weigel called Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body a “ticking theological time bomb that, when it […]

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Sen. Bob Casey, Jr.’s speech last night at the Democratic National Convention:
“It was billed as the breakthrough moment: the Democratic National Convention, which prohibited Gov. Bob Casey, Sr. from making a pro-life speech at the 1992 Convention, allowed his son to speak last night on the subject. But […]

Time is running out for American Life League supporter JoAn Karkos. The Maine woman has until 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29 to return the sexually explicit children’s book It’s Perfectly Normal to a public library in Lewiston.
If she does not, the 64-year-old grandmother may face jail time.
“I’m not giving the book back,” Karkos said. “Every […]

Once in a while, not often, you stumble across a statement or quote from some person of prominence that startles, cuts through the fog, and smashes your mind against the wall of reality, a reality that you really did not want to acknowledge.
I had this sensation while reading a recent blog entry on Huffingtonpost.com by […]

Q: Since we have the right to receive the sacraments, why does the Church now say that homosexual men can’t be ordained as priests? Aren’t their rights being violated? I’m not saying that homosexuals should be ordained, but I’m just wondering how the Church can argue it both ways.  -Will
A: It is quite true that […]

Barack Obama is conservative. John McCain is radical.
It’s true, at least with respect to one issue: health care.
The dysfunctional state of health care delivery combined with rapidly escalating costs have framed the issue to be one of the most visible in the 2008 election season. Which party has the edge? Democrats have historically enjoyed large […]

As host of Catholic Spotlight (not to be confused with CE Spotlight), it was my privilege to talk with producer/director Greg Willits about his new video That Catholic Show.  Greg and his wife, Jennifer, have developed a new way of creating a catechetical video that will inform and entertain at the same time.Chris Cash: What is it […]

For two years now, we’ve heard Barack Obama’s media allies telling us how he was a somehow Not A Politician, that he was the pragmatic soul of civility who was “uniquely qualified to nudge the country toward the color purple.” (So said Newsweek.) If that myth hadn’t died under tons of weight to the contrary […]

In an interview with Bob Krebs, the Communications Director for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, to which Senator Joseph Biden belongs, Krebs confirmed that Biden’s Bishop will not permit the Senator even if elected Vice President of the United States of America to speak at Catholic schools.When asked for the Bishop’s take on Senator Biden […]

 American Apparel has outraged [Toronto] passersby who object to the public display of images akin to those typically found in porn magazines with their latest billboard campaign, which pushes the limits of sexual advertising.The Globe and Mail reports that one billboard for the clothing company on display in Yonge-Dundas Square, featuring the bare, arched back and […]

When Sen. John Kerry arrived in Boston for the last Democratic convention, the TV news stars thought they’d died and gone to political heaven. Dan Rather said Kerry’s speech drove the crowd in Boston into “a three-thousand-gallon attack about every three minutes,” and Newsweek’s Jon Meacham was comparing Kerry to Abraham Lincoln on MSNBC. If […]

The Coquille Indian tribe of Oregon has admitted same-sex unions to the legal status of marriage.The legislation, affecting the small group of about 200-300 Indians, changed Coquille law to include homosexual unions, after a lesbian couple expressed desire that tribal officials sanction their union as a “marriage.”
According to tribal experts, the Coquille tribe is the […]

The word of the LORD came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “I know not how to speak; I am too young.” But the LORD answered me, Say […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an initiative recently to boost a program for menstrual regulation in Bangladesh. WHO states that the objectives of this program are to “ensure the quality of [menstrual regulation] and to share the knowledge of safe motherhood.”    ”Menstrual regulation,” also known as “menstrual extraction” (ME) is billed as a family planning […]

Not too long ago yet another study was conducted on what a housewife/mother would earn if she actually received an annual salary.  Yet again, they (whoever “They” are) grossly underestimated our net worth.
And the worse part?  We don’t get the option of being fired like the big banker guys.
Please. Fire me. Now. I want the […]

I have been on vacation for a few weeks and have tried to write blogs when computer access is available. I am now back and was struck immediately by an e-mail I received from a long-time supporter of ours who is a cradle Catholic like me. He wrote the following:Why have the Catholic bishops not […]

On yesterday’s NBC-TV show, “Meet the Press,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked to comment on when life begins. Here is what she said: “I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors […]

After receiving four days of intense testing by government authorities in a showdown over the future of homeschooling in Brazil, David and Jonatas Nunes are optimistic, despite the fact that the tests were changed on them only one week before, allowing little time for adequate study.
Although the Nunes family was initially told that the tests […]

A recent report from the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union (EU) has called for binding EU regulations that would equalize the legal status of married heterosexual couples with that of same-sex and opposite-sex couples across Europe.  It also recommends policies aimed at “promoting visibility of homosexuality and other gender identities” and criminalizing […]

Hollywood is always reminding us of its rosy vision of the future where there are absolutely no limits to sexual adventurism and gender confusion. Seldom is heard a discouraging word about the next new frontier of tolerance. “If it feels good, do it” isn’t merely a T-shirt slogan. In California, it should become the state […]

The United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) today proposed regulations that would increase awareness of federally funded health care providers’ right of conscience, including their right to refuse involvement in abortion or sterilization procedures on moral grounds. Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical Association (CMA), praised the proposed regulations as […]

Despite defiant and scantily clad opposition, Nigerian, Filipino and Mexican Catholic Church officials are taking steps to quell the growing trend of immodesty that is becoming prevalent among Catholics.
   
After Mexican priest, Rev. Sergio Roman, said in an online publication, “When we show our body without prudence, without modesty, we are prostituting ourselves,” a group of […]

Indiana county officials upheld legislation that imposes greater health restrictions on doctors performing abortions after receiving criticism about how the legislation was passed earlier this month. The Vanderburgh County Commission passed the “patient safety ordinance” on August 5th.  The ordinance requires that only doctors with local hospital admitting privileges may perform an abortion, and that doctors […]

In 2005, 43% of teens aged 15 to 19 reported that they had had sexual intercourse at least once, down from 47% in 1996/1997.  The findings were released today by Statistics Canada, relying on data from the 1996/1997 National Population Health Survey and the 2003 and 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.The decline was due to […]

Catholic League president Bill Donohue speaks to the growing interest in Sen. Barack Obama’s abortion record:
“The pro-life community has been tracking Obama’s support for selective infanticide for quite a while, but only recently has there been a national discussion on this issue. On May 15, I said on ‘Fox and Friends’ that ‘There’s been a […]

Doug and Annie Brown became a hot topic of conversation in June when his book came out, called “Just Do It.” The married couple from Denver made a decision to do something dramatic to their marriage, and have sex for 101 days in a row. They called it a “sexpedition.”
They expressed surprise at how much […]