Pope Francis and the persistent habit of 'maybe'
The legacy of Pope Francis is large and complex, with plenty of high points. But part of it is ambiguity and verbal confusion on matters of church doctrine, pointing to a need for clarification by whoever ...
Promise and peril of AI
Remember HAL? For those whose memories may not go back that far, HAL (Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer) was the murderous artificial intelligence machine in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film ...
Why we celebrate Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of those few national holidays when a semi-religious sentiment is allowed. It peeks through in reply to two obvious questions: Thanksgiving to whom for what? In search of an answer, ...
Newman on the process of conversion
Lately, I've had occasion to read two books by St. John Henry Newman. One is Newman's first novel, "Loss and Gain," while the other is that classic "history of my religious opinions" (Newman's words), ...
What all Souls' Day is all about?
"This mountain's of such sort that climbing it is hardest at the start; but as we rise, the slope grows less unkind." The speaker is the Roman poet Virgil, Dante's companion and guide in scaling ...
The Synod on Synodality approaches its conclusion
Participants in the Synod on Synodality spent two days before the start of its final session in a closed retreat that ended with a "penitential liturgy." The synod office also provided the participants ...
Election year manners
"A man that'd expict to thrain lobsters to fly in a year is called a loonytic, but a man that thinks men can be tur-rned into angels by an iliction is called a rayformer and remains at large." That ...
Supreme Court preview
When the Supreme Court opens for business again Oct. 7, it will have before it for argument and eventual decision in the term ahead at least three cases directly involving the protection of children and ...
