Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Forty years ago this month, Bobby Kennedy was still alive and running for the Democratic party’s 1968 presidential nomination. I was a seminarian in Washington, D.C. I was also an active volunteer in Kennedy’s campaign. I can still remember helping with secretarial work in the same room . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholic leadership in the secular world belongs to laypeople, not to clergy or religious. The visible role of the priest in public affairs¯if by public affairs we mean political affairs¯should normally be pretty small.It’s very dangerous for the Church to identify with one political . . . . Continue Reading »

On January 30, a coalition of social service providers gathered on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol. Ranging from Avista Adventist Hospital and the Denver Rescue Mission, which helps the homeless, to the Handprints Early Education Centers and Focus on the Family, the group had one thing in . . . . Continue Reading »

When we speak about a nation’s culture, we mean the entire fabric of its common life, from art and music to sports and schools. But since this is an election year, I want to apply the idea of Catholic witness specifically to our public life as citizens. Here are ten simple points to remember as . . . . Continue Reading »

Pope Benedict XVI released his new encyclical letter, Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope), November 30, just two days before the beginning of Advent. Not surprisingly, the Holy Father’s timing was perfect because Advent, more than any other season of the year, is rooted in the virtue of hope.For . . . . Continue Reading »

I’d like to start with a proposition. Here it is: To be a Christian is to believe in history. Think about the Bible. All the great world religions have sacred books: the Qur’an, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Analects of Confucius. What those sacred texts have in common is that they’re . . . . Continue Reading »

G.K. Chesterton once described lunatics as people who have lost everything but their reason. What he meant was this: When human reason cuts itself off from conscience, experience, and common sense, it subverts itself. It becomes a logical-sounding form of lunacy. The results are usually bad.This . . . . Continue Reading »

This talk was delivered at the Path to Peace Foundation seminar "Catholic Students and the Common Good: Building a Better World" in New York on May 22, 2007. I’d like to begin with a couple of disclaimers. For the past four years, I’ve had the privilege of serving on the U.S. . . . . Continue Reading »

Sooner or later, every teacher hears the same old joke about the philosophy student and his dad.The dad asks, “Son, what are you going to do with that goofy degree?” And the son says, “I’m going to open a philosophy shop and make big money selling ideas.” I smile every time I hear it, . . . . Continue Reading »

Last summer, attorneys in Colorado filed the first sex-abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese of Denver since the national clergy abuse scandal began four years ago. All of the suits involved two men: one, a laicized former priest who left active ministry more than a decade ago, and the other, a . . . . Continue Reading »