Today on Register Radio, moral theologian and cultural analyst Dr. Pia de Solenni tackled Time magazine's pronouncement that the pro-life movement is winning.

De Solenni disagreed with the magazine's assertion.

“I don’t think we’re winning,” said de Solenni. “”We’re doing a lot of good work and there’s been great state legislation passed, but a pro-abortion President won re-election. Planned Parenthood received $542 million in taxpayer funding, and there were more than 1 million abortions last year.”

De Solenni went on to describe where she sees three areas of success in the pro-life movement: state legislation, pregnancy help centers, and ministry and prayer efforts, such as 40...READ MORE

Just in time for Christmas, Friday's Register Radio focuses on two new books – both by Catholic converts – that would make great gifts for someone in your life. In our first half, National Catholic Register executive director Dan Burke spoke about his new book, “Navigating the Interior Life: Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God.”

Burke said that before he entered the Church, he was drawn to the mystical and ascetical tradition of the Church, and once in it, he longed for a way to navigate Catholic spirituality effectively.

“It was overwhelming,” admitted Burke. “There were all these new religious movements and orders with different ways to deepen your relationship with Christ. I...READ MORE

Judge Robert Bork, former circuit judge, U.S. solicitor general and 1987 Supreme Court judicial nominee, has passed on to eternal life. May God welcome him and grant him peace and rest. I was blessed to interview Judge Bork in July 2003, just after his conversion to the Catholic faith on July 21 at the age of 76.

Here's what he told me at the time of his conversion.

Was faith important to your family growing up? In which denomination did you grow up?

Up until age 17, I was in Pittsburgh. I have no siblings. My mother was a schoolteacher up until she got married because at that time you couldn’t be married and teach. My father was in charge of purchasing for one area of a large...READ MORE

We’ve struggled over the past four days to somehow make sense out of the senseless. How dark our world has become. How do we cope with such unspeakable tragedy? Those of us who are parents wonder how to talk to our children about the evil, the pain and the ever-present suffering all too readily found in our world.

The only consolation I continue to fall back upon is that it is Advent.

For many, Advent has completely lost its meaning. For too many, it’s become the shopping and the music and the eating and the parties before the party. An executive with a recording label recently told me that when they approached a music distributor about recording and selling an Advent CD, the response...READ MORE

Today on Register Radio, Ignatius Press’ president and CEO, Mark Brumley, spoke about Pope Benedict XVI’s third and final installment on the life of Jesus – “Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives,” and the resulting media distortion of the book.

“As with the two previous books, this book is aimed at bringing the reader into a closer relationship with Jesus,” said Brumley. “The Pope writes in the forward that he hopes that ‘this short book will help many people toward and alongside Jesus.’”

Brumley pointed to three areas where the media has distorted the Pope’s message: the birthplace of Christ, the angel’s appearance to the shepherds, and the date of Jesus’ birth.

“In some...READ MORE

Today on Register Radio, Emily Hardman, attorney and communications director with The Becket Fund provided a timely update on the various cases filed against the government’s Health and Human Service’s contraceptive mandate. She pointed out that currently there are more than 40 lawsuits, including at least 30 from non-profit agencies and nine from for-profit organizations.

Hardman pointed said that businesses are subject to the mandate almost immediately, so four different business cases have gone before the court. Of those, there have been three victories, with the court allowing injunctions. The case that was lost was The Hobby Lobby case, but that is currently under appeal.

“We got...READ MORE

Prior to last week, it had been 17 years since a Central Minnesota police officer was last killed in the line of duty. That officer, Brian Klinefelter, just 25, was killed after attempting to apprehend three suspects who had robbed a liquor store.
Last week's killing of Cold Spring Officer Tom Decker, 31, remains unsolved.

Yesterday's funeral at St. John's Abbey and police procession was something I hope not to have to witness again in my lifetime. Knowing that the procession would pass very near our home, I encouraged my wife and children to dress warm, and we proceeded to a pedestrian walkway bridge that spans Interstate 94. At about 1:30 p.m. the general procession began. For the...READ MORE