There are times when teaching moves beyond facts and data and reveals the depth of human longing These are times when students connect the material they are studying to their own lives and the questions they ask are unencumbered by shyness fear of embarrassment worry or concern about lack of know

This is not a post about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church I have written here before about child sexual abuse perpretrated by clergy in the Catholic Church and covered up by others within the Church Some have claimed it s not that bad and blown out of proportion others claim such things do not

Years ago I served as a dean of students in a seminary college I was surprised perhaps because of my own youth to discover a number of dysfunctions among our students I was particularly amazed by the abuse of alcohol which seemed little different from any other college campuses despite our

In August I raised the question of whether Catholic theology understands Adam and Eve as real historical persons especially in light of new scientific evidence reagrding the origin of human beings evidence which was now being considered by evangelical scholars Albert Mohler warned against this m

I battle between notions of sainthood which I find in the Bible and notions of sainthood which have developed organically in the Church over the centuries We might fairly call these the Protestant and Catholic concepts of sainthood though ultimately this is too limiting for either idea As a boy

Note to Readers I have been studying the Bible and have written the following in the spirit of C S Lewis rsquo s Letters to Malcolm i e a hypothetical friend Dear Christian Following one of our recent commiserations over coffee I returned home to an empty house and opened St Paul rsquo