Religious Liberty
Bishop Barron on California’s Attack on Confession
by Bishop Robert Barron . May 22, 2019 .
SB 360, a piece of proposed legislation currently making its way through the California state senate, should alarm not only every Catholic in the country, but indeed the adepts of any religion. In California, as in almost every other state, clergy members (along with a variety of other professionals, including physicians, social workers, teachers, and therapists) are mandated reporters—which is to say, they are legally required to report any case of suspected child abuse or neglect to law enforcement. However, California clergy who come by this knowledge in the context of “penitential communication” are currently exempted from the requirement. SB 360 would remove the exemption.
It’s Time for Catholics (and All Religious People) to Wake Up: The Real Danger Posed by the California Confession Bill
by Bishop Robert Barron . May 7, 2019 .
SB 360, a piece of proposed legislation currently making its way through the California state senate, should alarm not only every Catholic in the country, but indeed the adepts of any religion. In California, as in almost every other state, clergy members (along with a variety of other professionals, including physicians, social workers, teachers, and therapists) are mandated reporters—which is to say, they are legally required to report any case of suspected child abuse or neglect to law enforcement. However, California clergy who come by this knowledge in the context of “penitential communication” are currently exempted from the requirement. SB 360 would remove the exemption.
Es hora de que todos los católicos (y todo quien profese alguna religión) reaccione: El gran peligro que presenta el proyecto de ley de confesiones de California
by Bishop Robert Barron . May 7, 2019 .
SB 360, una ley propuesta recientemente y que va en camino al senado estatal de California, no solo debería alarmar a los católicos del país, sino también a adeptos de todas las religiones. En California, como en casi cualquier otro estado, los clérigos (junto con una gran variedad de otros profesionales, que incluye a doctores, trabajadores sociales, maestros y terapeutas) son informantes por mandato; lo que quiere decir que están obligados a informar de cualquier caso o sospecha de abuso infantil o de negligencia en la aplicación de la ley. Sin embargo, cuando un clérigo en California adquiere este conocimiento en el contexto de una “comunicación penitencial” está exento de dicha obligación. SB 360 eliminaría la exención.
Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto
by Fr. Steve Grunow . October 6, 2017 .
HBO’s “Henrietta Lacks” is a True-life Look at a Timeless Struggle
by Matthew Becklo . May 30, 2017 .
The Benedict Option and the Identity/Relevance Dilemma
by Bishop Robert Barron . April 18, 2017 .
Rod Dreher’s “The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation” has certainly emerged as the most talked-about religious book of 2017. There is a widely-felt instinct that something has gone rather deeply wrong with the culture and that classical Christianity, at least in the West, is in a bit of a mess. So, do we need the Benedict Option now?
The Strangely Beautiful Saint
by Fr. Steve Grunow . December 13, 2016 .
St. Ambrose and the Art of Public Witness
by Dominicans of the Province of St. Joseph . December 7, 2016 .
Bishop Barron on St. Edith Stein’s Elevated Virtue
by Bishop Robert Barron . August 9, 2016 .
Thomas Aquinas and the Art of Making a Public Argument
by Bishop Robert Barron . June 21, 2016 .
There is, in many quarters, increasing concern about the hyper-charged political correctness that has gripped our college campuses. Might I suggest that it would help our public discourse immensely if all parties would return to the Thomistic method of debate rather than engaging in verbal violence or retreating to a "safe space" amidst controversial conversation.