In spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. And why not? We’ve finally come around winter’s corner here in New York. The last bits of snow, hiding in the shadowed folds of the buildings, have finally melted. The girls are no longer wrapped up in parkas like . . . . Continue Reading »
On February 28, a congresswoman from Connecticut named Rosa L. DeLauro released a " Statement of Principles ." Signed by 55 members of Congress¯all of them Catholic Democrats, and together making up a majority of the Catholic Democrats in the House¯the statement urged . . . . . . . Continue Reading »
Among professional Vatican watchers, few are read more carefully than Sandro Magister. It is coming on a year since the election of Benedict XVI and much impatience has been expressed about the delay in a major shakeup in curial leadership. Particular attention is focused on Cardinal Angelo Sodano, . . . . Continue Reading »
Among pro-choice strategists, few are as thoughtful as William Saletan, who has written extensively on the abortion wars and offers regular updated analyses on Slate. He recently wrote this : Technology can’t avert all our failings or tragedies. There will always be abortions. But when you . . . . Continue Reading »
Euthanasia has been making a comeback in recent months, bubbling up again and again in little snippets in the news. There is a natural tide in certain issues that has them wash up to this high-water mark or that, before sliding back down, and the public agitation for physician-assisted suicide made . . . . Continue Reading »
On Privacy [Remarks at the National Press Club, March 1, 2006] In the run-up to the hearings on Sam Alito, a reporter called from a paper in Sacramento to ask whether the pro-lifers were disturbed that both John Roberts and Sam Alito had accepted a constitutional right to privacy. I explained that . . . . Continue Reading »
The trouble is abortion, once again. After John Kerry’s defeat in 2004, you could hardly shake a stick without whacking some Democratic figure or another who was insisting that their party needed to”or was about to”get back into the religion business. The success of Jim . . . . Continue Reading »
It is reported from Rome that Cardinal-designate William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, preached at the installation of the new rector of the North American College. His homily is described as a ringing defense of the recent instruction from the Congregation for . . . . Continue Reading »
So, a friend and I get talking yesterday. He’s a lefty, kind of. Actually, he insists he’s a middle, maybe even slightly right-shaded social democrat sort of person, and in any sensible country (like, say, Luxembourg or Denmark) he would be recognized as the moderate conservative . . . . Continue Reading »
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I have over the years discussed it with numerous people, including priests and bishops, and nobody can explain why in New York City people are so determined to “get their ashes.” At the Ash Wednesday Masses, my parish and hundreds of others . . . . Continue Reading »