Month: November 2015

On
Tony Magliano

Support efforts to protect creation at conference

“A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system,” warns Pope Francis.

In his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”), the Holy Father further warns, “In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events.

“Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production, and consumption, in order to combat this warming.”

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

René Girard, Church Father

René Girard, one of the most influential Catholic philosophers in the world, died recently at the age of 91.

Born in Avignon and a member of the illustrious Academie Francaise, Girard nevertheless made his academic reputation in the United States as a professor at Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford University.

New social theory

There are some thinkers that offer intriguing ideas and proposals, and there is a tiny handful of thinkers that manage to shake your world. Girard was in this second camp. In a series of books and articles, written across several decades, he proposed a social theory of extraordinary explanatory power.

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On
Morgan Smith

Finding my dignity in self-giving love

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Morgan Smith

I am reflecting now about how I felt on a weekend when I was facilitating a retreat that I had crafted from scratch (if you could imagine the stress this might cause). I feel like what happened to me sounds a bit crazy, the opposite of what “should” have happened.

I left the weekend at a physical deficit after ­­I put in countless hours of work. What’s crazy is that I am more spiritually fulfilled than ever before­­. I left the weekend a changed person.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Ladies of Divine Mercy meet on November 20

PINE BLUFF — The Ladies of Divine Mercy will meet on Friday evening, Nov. 20, at St. Mary Church in Pine Bluff, 3673 CTH P, Cross Plains. All women are invited to attend.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. An hour of Adoration will be followed by a reflection by Fr. David Carrano, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Reedsburg and chaplain of Catholic Charismatic Renewal for the Diocese of Madison.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Our hearts break for Paris

Editor's View by Mary C. Uhler

When I heard about the terrorist bombings in Paris, my heart broke.

I visited Paris many years ago, and it is such a special city. It saddened me to hear that so many innocent people were killed and injured, apparently by three teams of Islamic State terrorists.

Although the French people had a reputation for being somewhat aloof, we found them to be friendly — especially when we spoke some French. Once we made the attempt to communicate with them, the Parisians usually spoke English with us.

Damage to historic places

But it was not only the loss of lives and the injuries that upset me. It was also the damage the terrorists might have caused to the city of Paris itself.

There are so many historic places in Paris, many of significance to the Catholic Church.

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On
John Huebscher

These days we are heeding wrong ‘golden rule’

When he spoke to Congress last month, Pope Francis quietly urged his listeners to heed the Golden Rule of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

But there is another golden rule. The late Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus liked to refer to it from time to time. Commenting (with disfavor) on the nature of “old school politics,” Dreyfus observed that the golden rule of such politics is “He who has the gold makes the rules.”

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On
Chris Lee

John Huebscher to retire as WCC executive director

MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) announced that Executive Director John Huebscher will retire in January and Associate Director Kim Wadas will succeed him.

The WCC was organized by the state’s Catholic bishops in 1969 for the purpose of coordinating various interdiocesan activities and public affairs interests of the five Roman Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin on a statewide level.

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