The chief of all the seven deadly sins is that of pride. It is pride which caused Lucifer to be cast out of Heaven and declare, in the words of Milton, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”…
And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out,…
The recent Benedictine College commencement speech delivered by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, an outspoken Catholic, has stirred much controversy over the past week — in no small part due to consistent, willful misinterpretations and even misquotes of the…
Harrison Butker is a devout Catholic, a loving husband and father, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and widely regarded as one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. As of this past Saturday, he’s also a vicious misogynist — at…
The church is shrinking, but it’s getting stronger as well. That is the paradox afoot on the American religious scene. The number of unchurched — “nones” and “dones” — are skyrocketing, while the remainers, the ones who stick it out,…
On March 13, 2013, I stood among the thousands gathered in Saint Peter’s Square who witnessed the moment when Jorge Bergoglio, the Jesuit cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, walked out onto the balcony following his election as the 265th successor…
One year ago today, countless Catholics lost their spiritual father. The present pontificate has been, in the words of the late Cardinal George Pell, “a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe,” leaving faithful Catholics feeling as if they’ve…
I was on a beach in Brazil two Christmases ago when I heard that Anne Rice had died suddenly of a stroke. The news had been posted on her son, the novelist Christopher Rice’s, Facebook page. I was shocked, though…
This year on the feast of Saint Francis Xavier, I am reminded of another Jesuit who also journeyed to Japan: Pope Francis, whose words on the Japanese martyrs during his Apostolic visit in 2019 continue to echo in my mind…
