Category: Blog

Your good old-fashioned blog, It’s where I reflect on (but not exactly “review”) a variety of movies and where I post my thoughts on different issues as it seems necessary.

Pastor Column: Rerum Novarum IV

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of December 6, 2020      Last week, we saw that it was wrong to assume that different “classes” of society are naturally hostile to each other. Pope Leo XIII instead suggested that each member of society learnt o recognize their shared interest in the common good of society and that each remember the duties they owe to the rest. In this regard, the Church can serve as an intermediary by reminding each of their role in contributing to the good of all.      Taking up the typical distinction of worker and owner, the pope explains that workers...Read More

Pastor’s Column: Rerum Novarum III

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of November 29, 2020      Last week, in our walkthrough of his document Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII finished explaining why the denial of private property would not help society to flourish more and then set out to provide his own solution. Of course, this is a letter written by the pope to the whole world, which means it can’t get into specifics and particular situations, but it can give us the main idea and principles we need to apply in our own situation. It may not surprise you to know that Leo says “no practical solution...Read More

Pastor’s Column: Rerum Novarum II

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of November 22, 2020      We continue our journey through the landmark document Rerum Novarum this week by picking back up on the theme of private property. When Pope Leo XIII defends the right to private property, he also acknowledges an important principle that will continue to develop in the Church’s social teaching. He writes, “The fact that God has given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race can in no way be a bar to the owning of private property.”  We see here what becomes known as the Universal Destination of...Read More

Pastor’s Column: Rerum Novarum I

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of November 15, 2020      At last we come to the most landmark Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, titled Rerum Novarum, which means “On New Things,” published in May of 1891. The subtitle for this points us to what it is about: “On Capital and Labor.” Essentially, this encyclical becomes a foundational part of what is now called Catholic Social Teaching. Written at a time of heightening tensions between capitalism and communism, this encyclical tries to lay out key principles to guide efforts to reform society and make it more just. It includes criticisms of both sides...Read More

Pastor Column: Leo XIII and Government

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of November 1, 2020      With the election already upon us, it is a good time to look at Pope Leo XIII’s encyclicals on the government. Pope Leo XIII lived during a time of great social change (the late 1800s) and was very socially conscious. While he was pope, he issued several letters dealing with the specific conditions of Catholics in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Peru, and others. He also wrote a few letters addressing the question of Church-State relations in a general way. A particularly helpful encyclical is Immortale Dei: On the Christian Constitution of...Read More

Pastor Column: Leo XIII and Marriage

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of October 25, 2020      In February of 1880, Poe Leo XIII issued an encyclical on Marriage. Titled Arcanum Divinae, it was meant to reinforce the Church’s understanding of marriage and address a couple of relevant questions around that subject. We won’t cover the whole document, but focus on what he says about divorce, mixed marriages, and the involvement of the government.      Marriage is founded on the two principles of unity and indissolubility. These two reflect the love of God for humanity and Jesus raised marriage to a sacrament precisely so it could represent the marriage...Read More

The 2020 Election and the Catholic Conscience

Posted on by Father Albert
This is a post meant for Catholics who want to know how to form their conscience to vote in the election. So, if you reject the Church's teaching in some way, then this post may not be helpful to you. I am not interested in debating Church teaching here. This will already be a pretty long article, so we are taking for granted that the Catholic Church's actual doctrine (not rumors or the opinions of various priests/bishops) is true and not tossing around even more words trying to get to that starting point. Please read this not as a simple...Read More

Pastor Column: Leo XIII and Thinking

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of October 11, 2020      Philosophy. Today, that’s a word that automatically evokes boredom. People hear it and think of intellectuals who are out of touch or of absent-minded professors rambling about things that don’t matter. And there’s some good reason people react this way. Too often, philosophy is all abstract and disconnected from reality. Bizarre theories and horrendous moral arguments have come out of philosophy. The philosophies behind the Holocaust and people like Stalin are certainly evil and deserve to be discredited. So, our popular culture treats philosophy in general as something not worth paying attention...Read More

Pastor Column: Leo XIII and Socialism

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of October 4, 2020      Our next pope is Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903. He wrote the most encyclicals of any pope and was also responsible for laying the foundation of what people call Catholic Social Teaching. This refers to the collection of Church teachings on justice, government, business, and other day to day social realities. From the very start, Leo XIII made social ills a particular focus of his pontificate.      His first encyclical is titled Inscrutabili Dei Consilio: On the Evils of Society and focuses on the fact that human society...Read More

Pastor Column: Pius IX and Conscience

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of September 20, 2020      Blessed Pius IX, in his long pontificate (1846-1878), wrote on a wide variety of subjects and was a significant figure in the Church’s response to the development of the modern world. This also means he is a controversial figure. Though he is beatified, there have been and still are people in the Church who are ashamed of his leadership and who try to minimize or reject his teachings. As is often the case in such controversies, the problem is more often than not a matter of misunderstanding and miscommunication. One such example...Read More