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Too Much Sentiment, Part I

The Working Catholic: Too Much Sentiment, Part I  By Bill Droel “A Christian worldview can exist in writing that is not necessarily Christian,” asserts Lisa Ohlen Harris in the February 2015 issue of a terrific evangelical publication, Books and Culture. Meanwhile, she continues, “our own [Christian] literature often lacks the bite and angst our worldview […]

Catholics outnumber other religions in Congress

Catholics outnumber other religions in Congress CNS photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, kisses Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as he holds the gavel after being re-elected speaker on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. Boehner and Pelosi are among the 31 percent of House and Senate members […]

Time to Renew Your Membership!

Dear Friends on this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, In one month, we will be gathering for our annual Catholic Labor Network Gathering as part of the USCCB’s Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. I hope that you will be able to join us. If you have not registered yet, you can do so at: […]

Pope Francis: Concern for the Poor is Rooted in the Gospel, Not Communism

Pope Francis: Concern for the Poor is Rooted in the Gospel, Not Communism Discusses Ethics Within Social and Economic Systems in New Interview Vatican City, January 12, 2015 (Zenit.org) Junno Arocho Esteves | 42 hits In an interview with Vatican journalists Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, Pope Francis said that concern for the poor is […]

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,500 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people. Click here to […]

Pope Francis Describes 15 Ailments, Sicknesses, and Diseases in the Vatican Curia

Pope Francis Describes 15 Ailments, Sicknesses, and Diseases in the Vatican Curia December 22, 2014 · by Millennial · in Blog In his Christmas address to the Vatican Curia, Pope Francis described various ailments, sicknesses, and diseases “that we encounter most frequently in our life in the Curia.” Francis said, “They are illnesses and temptations that […]

Workers’ Participation

Workers’ Participation by Bill Droel Catholicism opposes collectivist or state-controlled economic approaches. At the same time it opposes an unregulated market and rejects magical economics, as implied in metaphors like rising tide, invisible hand and trickle down. Throughout the industrial era and now in our post-industrial times, Catholicism draws upon its principles of participation and […]

Service Projects

Service Projects Bill Droel This is a sign of the times: Thousands of Catholic young adults now participate in service projects and even in a year-long volunteer corps. These volunteer opportunities are not only offered through Catholic schools, religious orders and agencies. Other denominations and secular institutions also have service projects in which Catholics serve […]

Thanksgiving Images

Thanksgiving Images Bill Droel Our image of Thanksgiving Day is influenced by famous paintings, including from 1915 The First Thanksgiving by Jean Louis Ferris (1893-1930) and from 1943 the still popular Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978). These images serve a purpose even though they compress history and though celebrations in most homes are not […]

Pope Francis: ‘Unbridled Consumerism’ Is Destroying Our Planet

Pope Francis: ‘Unbridled Consumerism’ Is Destroying Our Planet Cole Mellino | November 13, 2014 9:55 am |  In what has become an annual tradition, Pope Francis wrote a letter to Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of Australia and this year’s leader of the G20 Summit, which will take place Nov. 15-16 in Brisbane, Australia. On the heels of […]