An Open Letter to My Bishop
My response to allegations against local priests.
91: Why I’m Not Donating to My Diocesan Appeal
Started February 8, 2019
I’ve finally said “enough is enough” and won’t be giving to my diocese’s annual appeal this year.
The Scandal of the Church
In the second century, the Church faced its first great heresy: Gnosticism. This confusing and eclectic system of beliefs threatened to destroy the Church in its infancy. Among Gnosticism’s tenets was the conviction that the material world is...
Sharing the Good News When the Daily News Is Bad
Many years ago, a couple of Mormon missionaries came to my door. My policy has always been to invite them in for a chat. I do this for two reasons: 1) I’m able to evangelize them about Catholicism, and 2) they can’t be knocking on anyone else’s...
66: 5 Reasons to Love the Church
Started August 20, 2018
With the ongoing sex abuse crisis in the Church, it can be hard to be Catholic. But I still love the Church! Why? I give five of my reasons in this episode of Swimming Upstream.
Selection Bias and the Process of Picking Better Bishops
“He’ll be a bishop someday.” That was the prediction in the parish I attended fifteen years ago. Our pastor was a nice man – likable and affable. No one had anything negative to say about him. The best word I can use to describe him is “safe.” He...
64: How Should Lay Catholics Respond in Wake of the McCarrick Scandal?
Started July 31, 2018
There hasn’t been this much disgust from lay Catholics toward the Catholic hierarchy since before the Protestant Reformation. The McCarrick scandal has revealed there is rot deep within the episcopacy. Many lay Catholics want to know: What...
When Bishops Lose Their Authority
While on the scaffold awaiting his execution, St. Thomas More famously declared, “I die the king’s faithful servant, but God’s first.” Throughout the controversy surrounding King Henry’s divorce and remarriage, More was adamant about one thing...
Sooner or Later God’ll Cut You Down
Johnny Cash has a word for warning for Cardinal McCarrick and the bishops who enabled him:
Who Watches the Watchmen? The Fatal Flaw of the Dallas Charter
It was 2003 and I was a young father sending my daughter to a Catholic elementary school. I wanted to be involved in the direction of the school, so I volunteered for the school board for a three-year term. Most meetings were what you would...
