NCR Today: The recent leaks of classified documents has Pat Perriello wondering: Is it the government or the whistleblowers who most resemble a "brave new world."
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore continues to insist that the government is inhibiting the religious freedom of Catholics. In a strong editorial in The Baltimore Sun, Archbishop Lori makes his case for the threat we live under in the United States.
I feel compelled to elaborate a bit on my recent comments regarding the leaking of classified information by Edward Snowden, who, according to the latest reports, has now left Hong Kong.
Pope Francis had his first meeting last week with members of the Jewish community. He strongly condemned anti-Semitism and promised to continue to promote collaborative relationships with Jewish groups around the world. He stressed the obvious ties Christians and Jews share through the common use of Scripture and the origins of Christianity through Judaism.
The Catholic bishops have reacted predictably to the Supreme Court decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). They have condemned the action and said it is destructive to marriage and family.
There are some fascinating results from a recent poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The poll asks whether the growth in the number of Americans who are nonreligious is good or bad. While 48 percent say this is a bad development for American society, a total of 50 percent say the development is either positive or does not matter.
The conversation around gun violence has diminished a great deal since the time of the tragic incident in Newtown, Conn. Unfortunately, gun violence itself has not subsided. We have recently been reading about escalating gun violence in Chicago.
Former President George W. Bush has it right. Immigration is not a partisan issue. In a July 11 editorial, TheBaltimore Sun highlights Bush's recent helpful comments on the need to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform.
While the world has been watching Pope Francis in Brazil at World Youth Day, I was in France with my wife, daughter, and son-in-law.
Let me share a few somewhat random reflections.
Pope Francis is back at the Vatican after a whirlwind World Youth Day celebration in Brazil. Not a single doctrine of the Catholic church was altered during this event. Frankly, there seems little likelihood there will be change to any Catholic doctrine in the foreseeable future. Pope Francis even made clear that there will be no female priests during his papacy.
I have made the point before that there is very little privacy remaining in our lives.
David Gibson of Religion News Service shares some of the latest reactions of traditionalist Catholics to the early days of the Francis papacy.
Gibson reports that a conservative blogger, Katrina Fernandez, asks “how can I love a pope who doesn’t even want to be pope.” To which question I am compelled to ask whether she loved Benedict XVI, who very clearly did not want to be pope either.
President Barack Obama has been called a socialist. I believe many are just beginning to understand that Pope Francis and the social teachings of the church can be said to be considerably to the left of Obama. Larry Kudlow of cable network CNBC seems to be coming to that conclusion.
I have to admit I was surprised to see this Religion News Service article about schismatic priests in Africa.
The congressional recess seems to be providing a vehicle for some movement on the immigration bill stalled in the House of Representatives. We are seeing evangelicals applying pressure to resistant members of Congress to support comprehensive immigration.
I ran across a disturbing YouTube page some of you may or may not be aware of. I'm sure there are probably a number of other websites of a similar nature.
I have waited as long as possible to write about the situation in Syria. This is primarily because I was unsure what I really wanted to say or what I believed should be done there. I have decided to consider the issue from three vantage points. First, I want to share a bit of a personal retrospective. I am not so much interested in showing the reader where I'm coming from as trying to determine for myself where I have been and where I stand at the present. This will be followed by a look at the moral questions involved, and finally, the politics of the issue will be explored.
Chris Hayes of MSNBC has declared Pope Francis "the best pope ever."
Hayes anchors an evening current affairs program on MSNBC called "All In with Chris Hayes." He apparently was raised Catholic but stopped going to church in college. He did not say he was returning to church next week, but he did say he thought the pope was awesome.
Everyone is rightly talking about the extensive interview Pope Francis had with the editor of the Italian Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica, which was published last week.
TheBaltimore Sun has an excellent editorial on the current state of gun violence in our country.
