Catholic Church

By Courtney Grogan, EWTN News/CNA - Pope Francis strongly condemned clerical sex abuse in his annual Christmas speech to the Roman Curia on Friday, promising that the Church leadership will never again cover-up abuse or treat such cases lightly... “Let it be clear that before these abominations the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case,” Pope Francis said in Vatican’s City’s Apostolic Palace Dec. 21.

By Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., Catholic Exchange - We cannot come to Bethlehem. It is a distant, war-torn place, at the heart of the most troubled area of our time. Yet it remains a place to which, even now, we are “commanded” or “invited” to “come.” Evidently, our time and place matter not. Once He who is to come has come, He is ever in our midst... Why are we asked to “come” to Bethlehem? What is triumphant there?

By Kevin Jones, CNA - During the early cultural battles over birth control in 1920s America, social thinker Monsignor John A. Ryan brought a unique perspective to the debate: he argued that contraception hurt solidarity and other efforts to ensure a decent living for workers and their families... “In the late 19th and early 20th century workers were many times exploited by those who employed them. The working class was subjected to poor working conditions, low wages, and long hours. Ryan was their defender”....