By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer The Vatican dismissed the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the clerical state for his sexually abusive behavior. Has the Catholic Church put the great scandals of 2018 behind it? Hardly. The McCarrick case is about more than McCarrick’s grave failings as a…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer The Catholic Church in the United States has received staggering blows of late. The sinful and criminal behavior of a former leading prelate, the statewide investigations into clergy sex abuse across the country, the Vatican’s confused and vapid response – all have…
By Maureen Ferguson It’s a great time to be Catholic. I mean that sincerely… in the sense of Dickens’ opening lines in A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of light, it…
By Maureen Ferguson Fyodor Dostoyevsky observes in his novel The House of the Dead, “Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything.” As the bishops of the Catholic Church convene in Baltimore this week to address the abuse crisis, Dostoyevsky’s reflection on human nature…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer President Trump will soon have a chance to make up for some lost time in supporting Iraqi religious minorities that ISIS threatened with extinction. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and his colleagues in Congress want to make sure our concern for the victims of genocide has…
By Grazie Pozo Christie As a Catholic mother of five young people, I have been watching the Youth Synod with great interest and praying for its success. My husband and I have experienced just how difficult it is to transmit a joyful and living faith…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer “Faith and charity in action” is the best way to describe what the Knights of Columbus have been committed to since their inception more than 130 years ago. As the organization prepares for its annual conference this week, a look at their influence around…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer Forget Pablo Escobar. Colombia now has a native son it can take pride in. No, not the country’s newly elected President Ivan Duque. He’s impressive enough — a 42-year-old family-man who is unafraid to pray in public and a whole lot better than opponent…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer Despite feeling humiliated and betrayed as a faithful Catholic, I am thankful for our summer of shame. I am grateful that a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed decades of clerical sexual abuse in the state, and grateful for the loud public demands for a…
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer Most people know that Christians in the Middle East have recently endured severe persecution at the hands of ISIS. But most people don’t know that, for years, a brotherhood of men have been quietly and vigilantly working behind the scenes on behalf…
