2009-11-19T15:09:30Z Catholic professor Anthony Stevens-Arroyo looks at the Catholic Church impact on American politics and culture. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/catholicamerica/630 Copyright (c) 2009, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2009-11-19T15:09:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-17:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/11/latinese_when_plain_english_will_do.html

Note: U.S. Catholic bishops gave final approval Tuesday to an English translation of the Roman Missal that has been in development for years. After the Vatican gives its final authorization, the new translation will be adopted by parishes nationwide, possibly next year. Sometime soon, Catholic America will be asked to "unlearn" our cherished prayers at Mass. As a result of a command to retranslate the Roman Missal, we are on schedule to be reprogrammed when...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-11-13T15:30:53Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-10:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/11/taliban_catholicism.html

Passage of the Affordable Health Care Act of 2009 was aided by the Stupak Amendment at the last hour. The U.S. Bishops were quick to hail not only passage of the House version of long-awaited reform but also for inclusion of that amendment. However, the double-dip victory may auger double trouble....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-11-04T20:26:15Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-03:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/11/catholic_schizophrenia.html

Not long ago, I received an email from Dr. Stephen M. Colecchi, director of the Office of International Justice and Peace for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), supporting my view that nuclear disarmament is a pro-life issue. This position repeated a long-standing, but seldom repeated 1983 statement of the bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response, placing peace issues alongside abortion in the Catholic conscience. A little more than...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-10-27T16:14:57Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-27:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/10/michael_moore_as_catholic_of_the_year.html

Should Michael Moore be named "Catholic of the Year"? Some people love his films and some hate them: but his newest film, "Capitalism: A Love Story," provokes such passion on either side that -- on that count alone -- it becomes a tribute to his skill as filmmaker. Avoiding a film review here, let me offer reasons for considering "Capitalism" a special kind of Catholic achievement....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-10-19T18:18:49Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-19:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/10/obama_paranoia.html

The Catholic bishops made it into the White House briefing, not once but twice the first weeks of October. Presidential spokesman, Robert Gibbs stated on two occasions (10/7 and 10/13) that the bishops had misinterpreted abortion in the Health Care legislation. Gibbs said, " . . . there's a fairly clear federal law (The Hyde Amendment) prohibiting the federal use of money for abortion." Despite these White House statements, some bishops now threaten to oppose...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-10-12T15:18:26Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-09:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/10/the_un-excommuniciation_of_padre_martinez_the_hispanic_church_comes_of_age.html

The Cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico, interrupts the low skyline with its French Gothic tower, clashing with the Spanish Mission-style celebrated in this precious city's architecture. The "foreignness" of the Cathedral is metaphor for the reign of Jean-Baptiste Lamy (1814-1888), the first Bishop of Santa Fe. His governance style clashed with the almost oldest Catholicism of the continental United States and resulted in the excommunication of Padre Antonio José Martínez (1793-1867), the curate of...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-10-07T14:07:24Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-05:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/10/a_muslim_faith-based_initiative_for_afghanistan.html

With the leaking to the press of a military report on Afghanistan, pundits claim that President Obama has two drastically contrasting options: either: 1) dramatically increase troop strength everywhere as suggested by General Stanley McChrystal; or, 2) concentrate troops along the Pakistan border to focus on al-Qaeda as favored by Vice-President Joe Biden. Neither strategy, however, accounts for the religious dimension in what is a fundamentally religious question....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-09-28T16:03:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-09-28:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/09/disarmament_is_a_pro-life_issue.html

The recent and unanimous vote of the U.N. Security Council endorsing nuclear disarmament is cause for rejoicing in Catholic America. Disarmament is a pro-life issue and the Security Council's September session with President Obama as chairman made a significant advance beyond the perennial rhetoric about atomic weapons. If and when Obama's effort at the United Nations' session becomes a policy to be endorsed politically in Congress, I think pro-life Catholics will be bound by conscience...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-09-28T15:14:34Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-09-21:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/09/catholic_secularism_vs_atheistic_secularism.html

Secularism is often considered the result of atheism, but history disproves that myth. American Secularism is a form of public neutrality about belief or unbelief. It is more about agnosticism and religious tolerance than about atheism and anti-clericalism. Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials are now promoting "Catholic Secularism," and that might have profound effects on Catholic America and the separation of Church and State....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-09-18T13:23:10Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-09-15:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/09/catholic_boomerang_on_health_care.html

A law has been proposed in Congress that no woman be forced to have an abortion. Yet, Catholic bishops like Charles Chaput of Denver and lay organizations like the Catholic League have condemned this piece of legislation. Would it be logical, therefore, to conclude that because they oppose this legislation, they are promoting government-ordered abortions? After all, if you are against a law that protects a woman's right NOT to have an abortion, are you...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-09-08T19:43:34Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-09-07:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/09/trading-in_the_bishop_of_scranton.html

The Aug. 31 press conference when Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino announced his resignation raised my admiration of the Catholic Church. After all, the secular world uses crude imagery like "Cash for Clunkers" to describe how to move on. Catholicism is far more artful....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-09-03T18:56:56Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-08-31:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/08/teddys_mass_the_right_of_ritual.html

There it was on non-stop television: the Catholic rite of the Mass of the Resurrection. True, the networks responded because a celebrity was being buried: Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, last of three brothers who have left an enormous political legacy to America. But our Catholic liturgy was not invented for celebrities and this mass in a Roxbury church was not very much different from the funeral for any Catholic. So, did Kennedy's liberal politics interrupt...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-08-25T18:25:32Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-08-25:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/08/will_us_nuns_checkmate_the_vatican.html

The Vatican has launched an investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States and its members. For those who only know religious women as "nuns" or "sisters" and usually don't bother about the canonical difference between an order with solemn vows and congregations or secular institutes, this may not seem very important. But as anyone who has played chess knows, losing your queen is a recipe for checkmate on your...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-08-17T14:58:50Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-08-17:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/08/michael_vick_and_the_act_of_contrition.html

Rarely does the arena of sports provide a test for moral thinking, but the signing of disgraced football quarterback Michael Vick to a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles has provoked more discussion about morality than about the Wildcat offense. Yes, on the sports show DNL for Philadelphia fans (I am one), some say "Never!" and some salivate about new options for the Eagles in the red zone. But the ever-wise St. James of Chester grad,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo 2009-08-25T16:11:14Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-08-10:/onfaith/catholicamerica2009/08/is_it_a_sin_to_listen_to_rush.html

At this point of the 21st Century, Rush Limbaugh occupies a unique place. Locating him on the radio dial, however, is easier than identifying whether he is head of the Republican Party, news broadcaster, or entertainer. That ambiguity raises the question: Is it a sin to listen to Rush? The question has nothing to do with being a Republican or a Democrat: Catholics are free to join either party (or neither). We can also ignore...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo