KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To understand Bishop Robert Finn’s indictment for failure to report suspected child abuse it is helpful to know a little about the world he walked into when he was appointed to lead the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 2004. From the beginning, this “theological conservative” was not particularly welcome.

In May 2006, the National Catholic Reporter tallied up the numerous changes Bishop Finn had implemented in the diocese as though they were counts in an indictment. The Talk to Action blog, meanwhile, described the bishop’s establishment of a Respect Life Office as a giant step in his “march backwards” and a clear sign that “biological issues now take precedence...READ MORE

And Yet, It Moves - George Cardinal Pell, MercatorNet

Enjoying God’s Creation - Sean Lewis, Cowboys-Philosophers-And-Poets

Path to God - Sr. Lisa Marie Doty FDCC, VirtuousPla.net

Royals can Marry Catholics, Keith Cardinal O’Brien Comments - Ian Dunn, Scottish Catholic Observer

French Police Brutality against Catholic Demonstrators - Jeanne Smits, Life Site News

Ideas Have Consequences: Eclipse of Happiness - Dennis Buonafede, Integrated Catholic Life™

Natural Law for Doubters - Joseph Stuart, Crisis Magazine

New Translation: Eucharistic Prayer IV, Part III (Epiclesis & Institution Narrative) - Jake Tawney, RLE

Our Greatest Living Political Philosopher - Peter Augustine Lawler, The...READ MORE

VATICAN CITY — On today’s Solemnity of All Souls, Pope Benedict XVI reflected upon death and the hope that Christian faith brings to it.

“As human beings, we have a natural fear of death and we rebel against its apparent finality,” Pope Benedict said to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly general audience. 

“Faith teaches us that the fear of death is lightened by a great hope, the hope of eternity, which gives our lives their fullest meaning. The God who is love offers us the promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son.”

Therefore, said the Pope, “in Christ, death no longer appears as an abyss of emptiness, but rather a path to life which...READ MORE

He died a devoted family man, with his wife and children at his bedside. But Steve Jobs didn’t come into the world as the object of his parents’ devotion. His birth was complicated and all too human in its details, and yet his story upends the notion that “unwanted” children are doomed from the start.

Jobs’ death saddened many of his admirers, who developed a firsthand appreciation for his commitment to excellence and viewed Apple’s explosive success as a bright spot amid unrelenting economic gloom. But I’ve always been more intrigued with the backstory of his closely guarded personal life, and thus welcomed Walter Isaacson’s newly released biography, Steve Jobs.

Isaacson does not...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (EWTN News)—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling on citizens to urge the U.S. Senate to reject a bill that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

“Protecting marriage as the faithful and lifelong union of one man and one woman is critical to the common good,” said a recent action alert posted on the website for the bishops’ conference, USCCB.org.

The alert warned of the “national impact” that would be felt if the Defense of Marriage Act, which is “essential to protecting marriage,” were to be repealed.

The federal Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996 by a wide bipartisan margin and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The act applies the...READ MORE

For the Church, the month of November begins with two beautiful feasts of remembrance and hope — All Saints and All Souls.

Throughout this month, the Church calls Catholics to raise our hearts and minds to seek the things that are above — to remember that going to heaven is the goal that God desires for each of our lives.

Jesus told us that our God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

God is not the author of death. He desires only life for his children. Death entered the world through human sinfulness. But death no longer has to be the final word in anyone’s life. Because Jesus Christ has conquered sin and destroyed death.

God’s love is stronger than death.

A Spiritual Battle, How to Win the Culture War - Dr. Peter Kreeft, Integrated Catholic Life™

Bankrolling Beauty: The Money Men of the 15th Century - Sarah Phelps Smith, MercatorNet

Georgetown’s Catholic Apologist for Islam - Robert Spencer, Crisis Magazine

Stout Hearts and Whizzing Biscuits - Nathaniel Gotcher, VirtuousPla.net

New Entertainment Co. Catholicizes Pop Culture - Daniel McInerny, Catholic Exchange

“Before Richard Dawkins Was. . . I Am.” - Frank Weathers, Patheos/Why I Am Catholic

The Call to Live Transformed Lives as Catholic Men - Maurice Blumberg, Catholic Lane

The Particular Imagination - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Dappled Things

The German Pope who took on the Secular...READ MORE

VATICAN CITY (EWTN News/CNA)—Pope Benedict XVI said on today’s feast of All Saints that everyone is called by Jesus to holiness in their own path toward sainthood.

“The liturgy reminds us today that the original vocation of every baptized person is holiness,” the Pope said in his Nov. 1 Angelus address from the window of his apartment that overlooks St. Peter’s Square.

Jesus Christ, “with the Father and the Holy Spirit, has loved the Church as his bride and gave himself for it in order to make her holy,” he emphasized.

He also reminded Catholics to see the Church as more than just a human institution.

Today, he said, “we are thus invited to look at the Church, not in its temporal...READ MORE