The Catholic Review The late great Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., once deplored what he cited as the penchant of some contemporary Catholics for “excessive and indiscreet compromise.” Without denying the value of open and honest debate, we would do well to beware of the role that such “compromise” played in raising the political tide that...Read More

The Catholic Review For the third time this school year we have had the frustrating and sad task of announcing that the doors of a Catholic school will not reopen next fall. St. Mary of the Assumption School in Govans is the latest such casualty and joins Catholic Community School (Federal Hill) and St. Michael...Read More

The Catholic Review The seeds were probably sown centuries ago in a hostile atmosphere for Catholics in the New World. In 1633, as the earliest colonists were about to set sail for “Mary Land”, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, instructed “his said Governor and Commissioners” that while sailing and upon arrival at their destination...Read More

The Catholic Review It was in 1846, during the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore held in our own Basilica of the Assumption that the bishops of the United States “decided to memorialize their declaration that the United States would henceforth be under the watchful care of Mary Immaculate, Patroness of America.” The Lowell Courier Journal...Read More

The Catholic Review The Easter season provides the media with the opportunity each year to report on the state of the Catholic Church, Christianity, and basically all-things-religion. This Easter was no different. The Easter-week edition of Newsweek contained an article entitled, “The End of Christian America,” based largely on the recently-released 2009 American Religious Identification...Read More

The Catholic Review But for the eagerly anticipated Easter Vigil, there is no richer celebration in our Church’s liturgical treasury than this Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper. Some days ago, I treated myself to a day of prayer centered on the sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. In particular, I have over the...Read More

The Catholic Review The poet W.B. Yeats, spoke of a fellow Irishman: “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” This week we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. I was grateful to receive the St. Patrick Award from the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Baltimore at...Read More

The Catholic Review Our elected officials in the Maryland General Assembly have been asked to consider many difficult and controversial issues since the legislature convened in January, with several more to come before the session ends in mid-April. Most recently we have witnessed the protracted debate in Annapolis regarding the repeal of our state’s death...Read More