WASHINGTON – In reaction to the news today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the oral contraceptive, Opill, to be dispensed over the counter, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and …

Every human and community experiences social maladies. American culture has long displayed symptoms of these pathologies—and American Christianity along with it. From susceptibility to conspiracy theories, vulgar aesthetic taste, avarice, smugness, partisanship, indifference to human suffering: Christians often showed themselves as spiritually unprepared as everyone else. Our imaginations need rescue, …

Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” (TOB). While recently discussing the issue of “shamelessness” in this series, I identified pornography as the most prevalent example in today’s culture. Last month, I began to answer the question of …

March 25, 1913 Little Miami River levees failed and the Great Dayton Flood began, engulfing most of the city and killing hundreds. Dayton then became one of the nation’s first major flood-control districts. Sept. 21, 1913 First Masses celebrated in the new St. Anthony of Padua parish, headed by Father …

1) Sewing for Good at St. Ignatius The Scarf It Up Club’s 75 members at St. Ignatius Parish, Cincinnati, collectively crochet, knit, sew and quilt. Their mission is to create warm, attractive items to comfort those in need or going through tough times. Serving 16 community agencies, in 2022 they …

Sister Mary Carolina Hess SNDdeN August 9, 1930 – July 4, 2023 “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33) Four values were strong in the family that birthed and shaped Sister …

The Sisters of the Precious Blood have elected a new leadership team: Sister Joyce Lehman, president; Sister Judy Kroeger, vice president; and Sisters Ann Clark, Marla Gipson and Terry Walter, councilors. They were elected to serve a four-year term. Formal installation of the newly elected team will take place Sunday, …

Reverend Stephen J. Emerick passed away on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born on July 27, 1926 in Dayton, Ohio, and baptized at St. Anthony Church, Dayton. Before entering the seminary, Father Emerick enlisted and served in the US Air Force, World War II, 1944-1945. He …

I have one living grandparent. My mother’s father is a spry 97-year-old who still makes the trip between his home in New York and his sisters’ home county of Donegal, Ireland. The stories he tells are a charming weave of Irish exaggeration and straight facts, though it’s occasionally hard to …

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in January 2018 Part four of a series on a pressing issue for our region, and on the Catholic response to it. By Walt Schaefer One weekday evening a week, at about 9 p.m. when the strip clubs In Harrison Township north of Dayton get …