Reflections on life, meaning and purpose

Dignitas Infinita Is a Muddled Failure

If the Vatican’s recent declaration on human dignity, Dignitas Infinita ,   clarifies anything, it would seem to be that the Catholic Church, at its highest level of teaching authority, has not yet succeeded in clearly articulating exactly what it means to attribute dignity to the human person. This is no minor problem. Recognition of […]

Pope Francis appoints California priest to remote island post in Polynesia

An aerial view of Tuvalu, an island nation in Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean, Oceania. / Credit: maloff/Shutterstock Rome Newsroom, Jun 3, 2024 / 12:33 pm (CNA). Pope Francis on Monday appointed a California priest to a missionary post on a remote island in Polynesia. Father Eliseo Napiere, the pastor of St. James the Less Parish […]

A liberal’s lament, and the problem of ‘exculturation’…

Father Tom Reese, the liberal Jesuit journalist who was a persistent critic of Pope Benedict XVI, has now become a critic of Pope Francis. The title of his his piece in the National Catholic Reporter says it all: “Pope Francis disappoints progressives. He will do so again.” Reflecting on the Pope’s “No” to female deacons […]

Drunk on temptation? The Book of Proverbs can help…..

The Book of Proverbs is dull reading at times, since its proverbial statements are often repetitive. At other times, a colorful maxim may strike the reader very forcefully, making it an effective life-lesson. But there is a wry humor in this book as well, though it may often go unrecognized amidst the flow of platitudes. […]

Do Dinosaurs Prove that Death Existed Before the Fall?

The Bible teaches that Adam and Eve’s sin brought death into the world, but we know from modern science that the dinosaurs lived and died for millions of years prior to the arrival of Homo sapiens. How do Christians make sense of this?