It’s something of a pleasant surprise to discover that many grade school history textbooks published today give credit to the late Pope John Paul II for playing a powerful role in the fall communism in Eastern Europe. The pope was never shy about his criticism of communism, and in the 1980s he shared information with the then-Reagan administration about the trustworthiness of Mikhail Gorbachev as a true reformer of Soviet government and society,  leading to more successful diplomatic relations between long-adversarial nations.

It may surprise some to know that the Vatican and the United States have only had formal diplomatic relations for 25 years. While FDR appointed an envoy to the Vatican, Harry Truman’s attempt to continue to do so was widely protested, and it was not until the 1970s that the role was again filled. Under Ronald Reagan, the job became a full ambassadorship.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

In a March meeting at the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, told bishops from 82 countries that as the Catholic Church works to become more present in new digital media, it also must help teach people to be ethical communicators. Ethical formation is crucial, he said, especially now that the world of communication is crossing new “frontiers that are in need of serious ethical grounding.” Helen Osman, communications secretary for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said many of the bishops at the seminar saw a need to develop a “theology of communications.”
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

We believe that the local Cincinnati Fox affiliate, Fox 19, and the station’s general manager Bill Lanesey, are worthy of special praise at this time. After cringing through commercials in the last few weeks that promoted the “Osbournes Reloaded,” we cannot help but believe that most local residents think that Lanesey took a high road when he decided not to air the new “variety” show in its scheduled primetime timeslot.

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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the diocese in which the University of Notre Dame is located, made several important points in his announcement that he will boycott the school’s May 17 commencement because the university has invited President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address and to receive an honor degree. They are points that all who are voicing opinions on this issue would do well to consider.

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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Blame the New York Times, which has as its motto, “All the news that’s fit to print.” Quite recently, their “news” was not news.

Last month the paper devoted a fair amount of column inches to the story “For Catholics, a door to absolution is reopened,” in which the writer discussed what he said was a newly resumed practice. “In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin,” wrote Paul Vitello.
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Friday, February 27, 2009

Blame the New York Times, which has as its motto, “All the news that’s fit to print.” Quite recently, their “news” was not news.

Last month the paper devoted a fair amount of column inches to the story “For Catholics, a door to absolution is reopened,” in which the writer discussed what he said was a newly resumed practice. “In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin,” wrote Paul Vitello.
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