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In 1986, after serving in a variety of capacities in the Jesuit province of Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio commenced doctoral studies in Germany.
The focus of his research was the great 20th century theologian and cultural critic Romano Guardini, who had been a key influence on, among many others, Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger.
Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the sixth in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.
In this commentary on the Second Vatican Council’s Decree On the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, we have reflected upon the general principles underlying the very existence of all Religious Life.
These include patterning the life on the doctrine and example of Jesus; giving a sign on earth of the heavenly Kingdom; binding the vowed individual in a special way to the Lord; and openness to the action of the Holy Spirit.
SINSINAWA — Sr. […]
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| Beth Ulaszek |
To prepare for the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org
Four years ago I was given the first in a series of life changing gifts in the form of a diamond ring.
For weeks I would stare and delight in its beauty as light touched it and bounced back in various colors. In my excitement every friend, acquaintance, and stranger got to know my beloved as I feverishly relayed the story of how such a beautiful gift wound up on my finger.
Greater gifts followed as I became a wife and mother of two.
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| Veronica Arntz |
St. John Paul II — the beloved pope and now saint — contributed a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom to the Church’s teachings on marriage and family.
Born on May 18, 1920, and ordained a priest in 1946, Karol Wojtyla’s adolescent years were marked by the reign and violence of the Third Reich.
Due largely to his devout Catholic parents, Wojtyla, rather than turning to violence himself, cultivated his mind through poetry and plays, eventually turning to philosophical inquiries, particularly in personalism.
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| Patrick Hardyman |
On September 21, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had earlier passed in the Senate by a vote of 85-14 and in the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-67.
DOMA had two major effects, “No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state and secondly the federal government may not treat same sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.”
Bishop Robert C. […]
Legislative hearings are valuable means of educating the public. During a June 2 hearing in the State Capitol for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (companion bills Senate Bill 179 and Assembly Bill 237), those present learned about a little-known but invaluable program known as perinatal hospice.
The bills would protect unborn children at and after 20 weeks from painful abortions and would require that families be informed about perinatal hospice. (Governor Scott Walker signed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act into law on July 20.)
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In the wake of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and the pope’s recent speeches in Latin America, many supporters of the capitalist economy in the West might be forgiven for thinking that His Holiness has something against them.
Again and again, Pope Francis excoriates an economy based on materialism and greed, and with prophetic urgency, he speaks out against a new colonialism that exploits the labor of those in poorer countries.
In a speech in Bolivia, a country under the command of a socialist president, the pope seemed, almost in a Marxist vein, to be calling on the poor to seize power from the wealthy and take command of their own lives. What do we make of this?
To the editor:
On July 14, a shocking video came out exposing Planned Parenthood in the selling of baby organs for profit. Planned Parenthood Federation Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola talked about the business of selling baby human organs to two undercover actors from the Center For Medical Progress posing as buyers.
She told of instructing abortionists to deliver live, intact, late term babies breech so organs (heads, livers, lungs, and hearts) are not damaged and can be sold (usually, aborted babies are ripped apart in pieces while still alive and inside the womb). This requires killing live babies even after they are born — when it is illegal to kill babies.
