For many Catholics, 2018 will be remembered with pain and anger because of the new revelations that emerged about the sexual abuse of minors. There is reason to hope, however, that 2019 will be a watershed year in dealing with this evil around the world. My brother bishops and I …

The season of Advent, which we enter in December, is a period of watchful waiting in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord at Christmas. In this, as in so many things, the Church is counter-cultural. Some stores have been decorating for Christmas since before Halloween! It is common during …

In early November, the Church calendar calls us to celebrate the saints and to pray for the faithful departed. We should take this seriously. The month begins with All Saints Day, on which we honor and seek the help of all those in heaven, including those not officially recognized by …

Most of us learned as children that the word “Catholic” means “universal.” We even refer sometimes to the “universal Church” to remind us that we are part of more than just the “local Church,” which is our Archdiocese. The Church is universal because it encompasses the entire earth. Every spot …

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr’s column for July The Declaration of Independence, which we celebrate on July 4, declares the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be God-given and therefore “unalienable.” Catholic social justice teaching agrees. These are not only civil rights, but human rights. The Church …

Americans are justly proud of the freedoms secured by the first ten amendments to our Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights. And freedom of religion is cited first: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” However, …

In the beautiful words of the Exultet, jubilantly sung at the Easter Vigil: “This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.” Easter, the feast of feasts, celebrates Christ’s saving victory over sin and death. This is too important to be confined …

You have probably heard the old expression, “Everybody makes mistakes. That is why pencils have erasers.” As Catholics, we have something much better than an eraser. We have a kind of reset button known as the Sacrament of Confession, or Penance, or Reconciliation. All three of those names for the …

SEEK THE LORD by Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr Christians from the earliest days have always defended the defenseless, bringing God’s love to the poor, the marginalized, and the vulnerable. No one is more vulnerable than a child in the womb. In America today, about one in five pregnancies end in …