OSV Newsweekly

A blind, 40-year-old man under house arrest for the last two years seems an unlikely candidate to draw the eyes of the world — and most importantly, of two of its largest and most powerful countries — to serious violations of women’s rights in China, specifically to the practice of government-coerced sterilizations and abortions. 

Yet on the eve last month of a major U.S.-China summit, Chen Guangcheng, a peasant and self-taught lawyer, managed to slip out of the grasp of his security detail in the middle of the night and into the safety of the American embassy in Beijing. Despite a blackout on news of the escape by Chinese media censors, his flight reportedly “electrified” Chinese human rights activists — and provoked a very sticky diplomatic incident that neither Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nor her Chinese counterparts were expecting or looking to engage. more

In a Cincinnati, Ohio, neighborhood that in 2006 had the highest crime rate in the city, 20 boys, grades K to 8, start their school days reciting prayers in Latin. There are crucifixes in the classrooms and the students study the classics and subjects taught in challenging ways. 

Barry Williams, headmaster at St. Peter Claver Latin School For Boys, is proud of them. 

“Our students are bright and hard working,” he said. “And we have parental involvement — we expect it. Parents want their children to be here because they want them to have a chance. They don’t want their boys to fall prey to what they see in the neighborhoods.” more

In all the recent chatter about the Catholic Church and women, it’s hard not to think that somewhere, somehow, wires are getting crossed. 

Much of the secular media and more than a few politicians have one idea about what the Church teaches: Women are an inferior sex, not to be trusted with much beyond the domestic sphere. 

Plenty of Catholics also have bought into some false ideas of what the Church thinks about women, believing (some with approval, some with opprobrium) that all members of the fairer sex are called to become plasticized versions of St. Thérèse of Lisieux or the Virgin Mary, cookie-cutter caricatures of consecrated virgins and holy wives. 

All of which couldn’t be further from the truth. 

So, what does the Catholic Church teach about women? more

Being at Our Sunday Visitor, with its national and international contacts within the Church, provides a perspective for saying that St. Vincent de Paul’s parish in Fort Wayne, Ind., is one of the best examples of what a Catholic parochial community should be. 

Many reasons support this statement, such as the spiritual vitality of the parishioners — more than 10,000 of them on record — the rich Catholicity and dignity of its edifying liturgies, and its energetic programs, not the least of which is its school, enrolling 770 students. more

I guess it is me, but I will often recommend a novel that begins with someone “talking to Ralph on the big phone.” It seems a sure sign that this might be a Catholic novel. 

To delicately translate “talking to Ralph on the big phone”: It was a college euphemism in my day. It meant getting sick to one’s stomach. 

Bill Dodds’ latest book begins with his anti-hero, Saul McNeil, stopped in traffic when he suddenly leans out the car door to talk to Ralph on the big phone. He’s videoed in all his glory by passing teens who post the display on the Internet where it goes viral. So to speak. And we’re off. more

“A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend.” The saying’s source is unknown, but the sentiment it expresses is pretty nearly universal. 

But although that’s always been so, grandmothering today may be more important than ever. Since 1978, grandparents have even had their own official “day,” observed annually on the first Sunday after Labor Day. And lately a rash of new publications, websites and groups has sprung up with the aim of celebrating and assisting grandparents. more

Question: Did Satan know Jesus was God, or was he just tempting his human nature to fail? 

Answer: It would seem that Satan and other evil spirits did know Jesus was God, at least in some general way. Scripture reports: Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God” (Mk 3:11). Another time a demon cried out: “I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” (Mk 1:24).  more

The Vatican’s April 18 announcement of a reform to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious prompted strong reactions from secular and religious media alike.  

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s call for renewal of the organization came after a doctrinal assessment of the group, which says it represents about 80 percent of the women religious in the United States. The assessment found “serious doctrinal problems which affect many in consecrated life,” including addresses at LCWR conferences that dissent from Church teaching. 

Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle was named archbishop delegate for the renewal initiative, while Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, who conducted the assessment, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., were named to assist in reform. more

If a recent Vatican conference is any indication, some Church leaders would like to see annulments harder to come by. more

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” 

That question, uttered by the two angels to the disciples, is easily read over quickly or even misunderstood. The natural reaction, I think, is to conclude the angels were simply saying, “Look: Jesus is gone. There’s nothing more here to see. Go your way.” The impression is that Jesus, in ascending into heaven, had not only departed but created some sort of distance between himself and his disciples. We might even conclude that the disciples were sorrowful or confused, wondering, “What next?” But such conclusions are quite contrary to the real nature of the Ascension. more