Russell Shaw
The Catholic Church and same-sex marriage
The likelihood that the Supreme Court next June will announce its discovery of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage raises... Read more
The problem of unserious politics
I try to take American politics seriously, I really do. Serious issues are at stake, after all. But sometimes, entirely... Read more
Ideals and Norms
Is the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage, including indissolubility, an ideal or a norm? Although the question may sound abstract,... Read more
Great Society
President Lyndon Baines Johnson had spoken the words “Great Society” before, but on January 4, 1965 he brought the pieces... Read more
Real Life Heroes: Unknown and Unrecognized
Let’s face it, 2014 was a rotten year for heroes and hero worship. Sure, it brought plucky, admirable people who... Read more
The Culture War
For months after the Supreme Court abruptly legalized abortion in its Roe v. Wade decision of January 1973, people who... Read more
Dietrich von Hildebrand vs. Hilter and the Nazis
To many Germans in the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler looked like just what Germany needed. Here, they imagined, was a... Read more
The crisis the synod ought to have talked about
During the 10:30 Mass in my parish a couple of Sundays ago 32 boys and girls stood in front of... Read more
Our new Mideast war
The headline on a recent Washington Post Op-Ed about the rise of the Islamic State proclaimed “The Return of Evil.”... Read more
The Francis Effect and the Chicago Appointment
At the American bishops’ fall general meeting last year reporters pressed hard to find signs of the Francis effect. But... Read more
Don Alvaro
As Pope John Paul II was leaving Opus Dei headquarters in Rome after paying his respects at the wake of... Read more
The Caregiver
The 36-Hour Day (Grand Central Life & Style) is a handbook familiar to many caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and... Read more
The Common Core controversy
Longer ago than I care to remember, I spent three years working for a Washington-based national education organization. I liked... Read more
Was Vatican II needed?
Why did we need the Second Vatican Council? Did we need it at all? Hearing those questions, most Catholics who’ve... Read more
Secularist reactions to Hobby Lobby
Considered either as an ideology or as a program of action, secularism is deeply coercive. Reactions to the Supreme Court’s... Read more
Iraq: Where to go from here
Starting in 2003, the United States has made two fundamental mistakes in Iraq, both with strong moral implications. At the... Read more
The church attendence decline and what to do about it
Forty years ago, as the falloff in Sunday Mass attendance by American Catholics was becoming too obvious to ignore, Catholic... Read more
Crisis in the news business
It was a week that began with the management of The New York Times forcing out the paper’s executive editor... Read more
Our spontaneous Pope
Spontaneity that reflects good-heartedness is a highly attractive trait, but the spontaneity of self-indulgence is reckless and often cruel. Spontaneity... Read more
