Author: Deacon Richard D. Shewman

The Church’s emphasis on the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death, also calls into question the use of capital punishment. What the pope did was to acknowledge…

Within a few days of accepting the McCarrick resignation, Pope Francis promulgated a revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church which modified its official position on capital punishment. This…

Gaudium et spes presents a beautiful and challenging picture of Christian marriage. As a ministry priority the local church is challenged with trying to support marriage and family life in…

In ancient times people thought in terms of a “hierarchy of being”. That is, all that existed could be placed on a hierarchy. The top of the hierarchy was God…

One of the priorities of ministry listed in the Pastoral Plan of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa is marriage and family life. There is general agreement that marriage and family…

Pope Saint John Paul II defines the common good as, “the sum of those conditions of social living whereby people are enabled more fully and more readily to achieve their…

All Catholic moral theology and ethics boils down to one basic premise. Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27).  What does that mean? The…

A parishioner complained to his pastor that the church was too involved in political issues. He longed for the “good old days” when you went to church to pray and…

Community is distinct from culture in that culture refers to a fairly broad range of practices and expectations that are found among several communities.  The term community is used most…

Not long ago I shared a true story in which a college student dropped by the office of a well-known theology professor from whom he was thinking about taking an…