Category: Current Issues

Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas Father Peter Stravinskas holds doctorates in school administration and theology. He is the founding editor of The Catholic Response and publisher of Newman House Press. Most recently, he launched a graduate program in Catholic school administration through Pontifex University. To hear some people talk, one would get the impression that the Church’s prohibition against artificial contraception, as reaffirmed in Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968)  came out of the blue. In fact, there’s a strong and consistent ban on all such practices from the earliest days of the Church, right into the twentieth century, with statements to the same effect …

By Gretchen Filz, O.P. At Mass and other liturgical services, priests and altar servers swing censers that send clouds of incense wafting through the air. Everything in Catholic liturgies symbolizes a theological truth—nothing is superfluous or “just for show.” So what does incense symbolize? What Incense Symbolizes in Christian Liturgy The smoke of incense is symbolic of sanctification and purification. It also symbolizes the prayers of the faithful. It is an outward sign of spiritual realities, which is why it has its place in Christian liturgy.  These two purposes reveal a deeper truth: that prayer itself purifies and sanctifies us, making us worthy …

By Cheryl Hadley While I have great love and admiration for all the saints, I have a very special relationship with St. Joseph, my spiritual father. He is one of the most beloved saints in the Catholic Church. His principle feast day, March 19, is a solemnity—a feast of the very highest rank. We also celebrate a secondary feast day under his title “St. Joseph the Worker” on May 1st. St. Joseph is, for me, a spiritual father; a protector and provider; an intimate companion; a pattern for a life hidden in Christ and cloaked in docility. His divine call …

By Gretchen Filz, O.P. Every Catholic knows—at least partially—how to use holy water: we dip our fingers in the font and bless ourselves as we enter the Church. Ideally, we are supposed to recall our baptism and our baptismal promises, including our renunciation of Satan and disdaining sin. St. Teresa of Avila extolled the importance of holy water: From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, …

Fr. Gerald E. Murray The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City. His new book (with Diane Montagna), Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society, is now available. The situation of the Catholic Church at present is one of grave disorder, due in large part to the willingness of Pope Francis to say, do, and tolerate things that no pope in history has ever said, done, or tolerated. His recent off-the-cuff remarks instructing priests not to deny absolution to anyone who comes to Confession, for …

Fr. Gerald E. Murray The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City. His new book (with Diane Montagna), Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society, is now available. Pope Francis recently spoke about the Synod on Synodality with Argentine journalist Elisabetta Piqué of La Nacion. He talked specifically about his 2018 Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio [EC], which established new canonical norms for the Synod of Bishops: Ten years ago a serious reflection was undertaken, and a document was written, I signed it, with theologians with me, it was …

Fr. Gerald E. Murray The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City. His new book (with Diane Montagna), Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society, is now available. The Synod of Bishops, as Pope Francis remarked in his 2014 Letter to Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, was established by Pope St. Paul VI to meet “the need to strengthen by closer bonds the union of the Bishop of Rome with the Bishops whom the Holy Spirit had constituted to govern the Church of God.” He added that “it …

Fr. Gerald E. Murray The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City. His new book (with Diane Montagna), Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society, is now available. The Instrumentum Laboris [IL] (Working Document) for the October Synod on Synodality, released June 20, embodies the now familiar pattern seen in the various stages of the synodal process. Certain questions are asked, others are ignored, predictable answers are given, and expectations are raised that a new Church, the Holy Spirit-inspired Synodal Church, will emerge in which …

Msgr. Robert J. Batule Msgr. Robert J. Batule is a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and pastor of Saint Margaret of Scotland Church in Selden. He served for five years as the Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Social Science Review. He is a contributor of articles, essays, and book reviews over decades to a number of Catholic publications. Today, August 6, we celebrate the Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration according to the liturgical calendar. It also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the release of Veritatis Splendor, Pope Saint John Paul II’s encyclical on Catholic moral theology, which has …