An Open Letter to My Bishop
My response to allegations against local priests.
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...
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...
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...