News - September 2020 RSS Feed

Connecticut native, now 50 years a priest, also continues as chaplain at Ave Maria Law School

Joining a Legatus Forum has been among my best decisions in recent years for deepening my faith and friendships. It’s put me in the middle of a small group of men I admire and enjoy, rock-solid Catholic business leaders who call me to higher ground.

The Denver Chapter commemorated its 20th anniversary on August 6 with 80 in attendence, beginning with a special outdoor Mass celebrated by Denver’s Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila at St. John Vianney Seminary. Members then enjoyed cocktails and a delicious meal. Highlights included: the Chapter awards; comments from John Saeman (read by Craig Saeman); the archbishop calling Chris Stefanick on FaceTime video during the award presentation to jokingly reprimand him for not attending with his fellow recipients; and the unexpected presentation to president Rob Attai of the “Golden COVID” trophy by Mike Sullivan for Rob’s hard work in getting the Chapter together through this tough time. The supply of margaritas (three different kinds) was gone, and the entire cupcake tower was consumed alarmingly fast during the after-party.

As Christians and world leaders lament Turkey’s reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, some experts warn that the act could signify a religious resurgence as much as a nationalist action. “This is as much a religious statement as it is a geopolitical statement, and I think it needs to be read as such,” said Elizabeth Prodromou, director of the Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

While politicians speak of change, one thing is consistent: for more than 200 years, Catholic schools have been champions of social justice in providing quality education to all, especially those in immigrant and underserved communities.

If you are over 60, chances are you know someone who has had a compression fracture in his spine. Almost 700,000 patients are diagnosed with these fractures each year.

Lockdowns, social distancing measures, and stay-at-home orders likely left many feeling a bit claustrophobic as they hunkered down at home during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also disrupted the cycle of new cinematic releases to public theaters. Among these was Greyhound, a $50.3-million war film starring box-office magnet Tom Hanks; originally scheduled for a June 2020 release by Sony Pictures, its distribution rights were purchased by AppleTV+, which offered it digitally to subscribers in mid-July.

Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics | Freedom or Equality: The Key to Prosperity Through Social Capitalism | How the Church Has Changed the World (Vol. I and Vol. II)

What does it mean when a CEO says, “we support Black Lives Matter?” On the surface, it appears the company affirms the dignity and equality of Black people. If it were that simple, all Catholics would be obligated to support such a movement. However, the motives and beliefs of BLM are not that simple. In fact, BLM is an overtly anti-American, pro Marxist, anti-family, pro-LGBTQ anarchist movement, aimed at deconstructing the United States. Therefore, when a company expresses formal support of the Black Lives Matter movement, they are, at a minimum, passively endorsing all those motives.

Church tradition tells us that parents are the primary educators of their children even in matters of religion. It pertains to the parents to do the day-to-day job of forming the minds of their children regarding those things which they are to believe regarding the Catholic faith. The goal of parenting is for the child to reach the age of majority with an adequate knowledge of his Catholic faith and the sufficient virtues to lead a Catholic life.

As a traumatologist, I'm amazed at the commonality with which trauma affects survivors across cultures. Horrible things happen to people all around the world. Symptoms range from minor adjustments to lifestyle, difficult feelings, and coping patterns to psychotic breaks, suicidal ideation, hallucinations, and catatonia — along with deep emotional, physical, and sexual pain that can last a lifetime.

A recent article in Legatus Magazine raises the question of “whether a person declared ‘brain dead’ is, in fact, dead.” The M.D.-author does not appear to dispute the claim that the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain function constitutes death, but instead suggests that clinical testing as a means of determining brain death may be unreliable.

It's been challenging. The pandemic drained the budgets of Catholic schools and left school administrators reeling, whiplashed by state mandates to close the schools, go virtual, offer hybrid options, and ramp up to re-open (maybe).

If one is genuinely seeking an impressive track record in support of human dignity and true social justice, then look at the Roman Catholic Church. 

When John Scott went off to college in the fall of 2002, hockey and partying were his top interests. Today his top interests are faith and family.

Father Bryce Sibley used to pick a spot on campus where he would sit behind a table with a sign welcoming passersby to “Ask a Priest a Question.” For years, students of all religious backgrounds would stop at Father Sibley’s table at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and ask him something related to the Catholic faith. The conversations were usually respectful and edifying. That no longer really happens.

A brief interview on the present crisis with Kevin J. Matthews, vice president of the Boston Chapter and CEO of The Registry executive search firm for colleges and universities.

Prospective and returning college students faced niggling questions as they weighed their options ahead of the fall semester with the COVID-19 pandemic in play. Is it too risky to live on campus? Will I be able to attend classes? And if it’s mostly online, is it worth the cost?

A great gift of authentic Catholic education is the legacy of right-reason. There are many schools offering ‘fine education.’ But as Catholics, in order to live in harmony with our baptismal and marital promises, we are charged not with sending our kids to prestigious schools, but with educating them first in the things of God. Intelligence is the raw ability to grasp something. Not everyone does so equally, which is why some students excel in subjects that others don’t.

Padre Pio was a 20th-century Italian Franciscan friar and priest with mystical gifts including bilocation, ability to read hearts in the confessional, transverberation (having piercings like Christ’s), and the odor of sanctity.