The President’s Moral Confusion

The president, whom nobody would confuse for a moral theologian, has weighed into the issue of medical interventions for children who are suffering from confusion about their “gender identity”. His comment was about proposed state laws that would ban surgeries and hormone treatments for minors. He declared that these bills are “almost sinful”. It’s easy

Pope Benedict and the Law

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI made an apostolic visit to his homeland. During his journey, he delivered a very significant address to the German Bundestag. His theme was the sources of law and how the contemporary philosophy of law underlies threats to human life and liberty. At the center of his argument was a striking

The January 6th Report and Catholics

As we approach the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a report was just released from a Congressional committee investigating what led up to that tragic event. All Americans should be interested in the results of this investigation. But there are some important lessons in this report for Catholics who are

Catholics and the Constitution

As Americans, the closest thing we have to an established religion is our reverence for the Constitution. This sense of honor and respect for our basic law has united Americans since the founding of our country. It has enshrined the principle of the rule of law at the heart of our system – the profoundly

The Church Clears Up Gender Confusion

What do an Ivy League swimmer and a Jesuit priest have in common? A sad confusion about the nature of the human person and the truth about human sexuality. First Consider the Swimmer In the last few months, there has been a surprising amount of attention being paid to a fairly obscure area of American

Synod not Schism

The Holy Father has called for the entire Church to conduct what is being called a “Synod on Synodality“. Most normal people don’t speak Vatican-ese, which is a strange blend of bureaucratic jargon and Church-inside-baseball. But it actually is easily understood once it is translated into ordinary language. And a proper understanding of this process

Catholics and the Attack on the Capitol

The anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol offers us an opportunity to reflect on the teaching of the Church on when force can justifiably be used to resist political oppression by a government. That teaching, which is rooted in the natural law as well as revelation, makes very clear that the use of

Vaccines and Conscientious Objections

More and more Catholics are expressing a sincere moral objection to the COVID vaccines due to their remote connection to abortion. This concern is particularly acute among people who are strongly pro-life and very loyal to the Church. This is a serious issue because employers and schools are starting to impose mandates for vaccination. So

What is “Eucharistic Coherence”?

We’re hearing the term “Eucharistic coherence” a lot in discussions over “pro-choice” politicians and Holy Communion. It’s a strange term of art that is not readily understandable to normal people who don’t live in a theological or clerical bubble. It sounds like an intellectual puzzle about logical consistency. In plain language, the discussion is really

The Urgent Moral Need for Vaccines

Until now, the debate about the morality of COVID vaccines has centered on their degree of remote connection to abortion by way of cell lines used in their development. That debate was resolved by guidance from the Holy See and the U.S. Bishops. But another extremely urgent moral debate is necessary now. The plight of