When we first began having grandchildren, they were roughly evenly divided between boys and girls. But the past 14 in a row have been girls. What are the odds?... More
When we first began having grandchildren, they were roughly evenly divided between boys and girls. But the past 14 in a row have been girls. What are the odds?
I get my picture taken a lot. I'm not particularly photogenic, but as president of The Catholic University of America, people expect me to be in the frame for a lot of occasions, and it would be rude for me to refuse.... More
I get my picture taken a lot. I'm not particularly photogenic, but as president of The Catholic University of America, people expect me to be in the frame for a lot of occasions, and it would be rude for me to refuse.
There is an old New Yorker cartoon that shows an angel bringing God a stack of petitions about wars, natural disasters and other calamities. God waves him off with a distracted, "Not now. I'm trying to help this guy make a free throw." ... More
There is an old New Yorker cartoon that shows an angel bringing God a stack of petitions about wars, natural disasters and other calamities. God waves him off with a distracted, "Not now. I'm trying to help this guy make a free throw."
We began our football season with a loss in double overtime to Kenyon College, the alma mater of President Rutherford B. Hayes. ... More
We began our football season with a loss in double overtime to Kenyon College, the alma mater of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
We have just begun the four-and-a-half-month span — between the solemnities of the Assumption (Aug. 15) and Mary, mother of God (Jan. 1) — into which all our holy days of obligation are now compressed. ... More
We have just begun the four-and-a-half-month span — between the solemnities of the Assumption (Aug. 15) and Mary, mother of God (Jan. 1) — into which all our holy days of obligation are now compressed.
Chemists and economists speak of equilibrium conditions, where the concentrations of reactants and products, or supply and demand, are in balance. ... More
Chemists and economists speak of equilibrium conditions, where the concentrations of reactants and products, or supply and demand, are in balance.
It's sad, what we have done to ourselves, and especially to the young people whose hormones are pulling them irresistibly to find love and play a part in God's creation. Instead, we offer them a diet of porn that they can binge on until they develop a virtual version of Prader-Willi syndrome.... More
It's sad, what we have done to ourselves, and especially to the young people whose hormones are pulling them irresistibly to find love and play a part in God's creation. Instead, we offer them a diet of porn that they can binge on until they develop a virtual version of Prader-Willi syndrome.
One of our girls gave me a book for Christmas, "One Man's Meat," by E.B. White. We agreed to start a little book club, just the two of us — coffee once a month to talk about it.... More
One of our girls gave me a book for Christmas, "One Man's Meat," by E.B. White. We agreed to start a little book club, just the two of us — coffee once a month to talk about it.
I think that in our arguments, old and new, about who is right, we are losing sight of a different, and important, point about what it means to be Catholic. ... More
I think that in our arguments, old and new, about who is right, we are losing sight of a different, and important, point about what it means to be Catholic.
Our youngest daughter is living at home while her husband finishes his medical residency. ... More
Our youngest daughter is living at home while her husband finishes his medical residency.
Stephen Hawking was a brilliant and influential physicist responsible for, among other things, the conclusion that black holes emit energy that we now call "Hawking radiation." ... More
Stephen Hawking was a brilliant and influential physicist responsible for, among other things, the conclusion that black holes emit energy that we now call "Hawking radiation."
We recently added the papers of Father Richard John Neuhaus to our university library's collection of important figures in American Catholic history. ... More
When I was about 13, I had a bad temper — so bad that I quit playing golf. ... More
When I was about 13, I had a bad temper — so bad that I quit playing golf.
I wish we had a litmus test to identify the people who deserve our praise. But it won't ever be simple. We are all sinners. The best we can hope for is an impressive balance on the side of virtue. As Chernow shows, we should be slow in weighing the evidence. ... More
I wish we had a litmus test to identify the people who deserve our praise. But it won't ever be simple. We are all sinners. The best we can hope for is an impressive balance on the side of virtue. As Chernow shows, we should be slow in weighing the evidence.
The Supreme Court heard arguments last month in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case about whether the government can make a Christian baker design a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding. ... More
The Supreme Court heard arguments last month in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case about whether the government can make a Christian baker design a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding.
Richard Wilbur died last month. He was, Dana Gioia said, the finest poet of his generation and the greatest American Christian poet since Eliot. ... More
Richard Wilbur died last month. He was, Dana Gioia said, the finest poet of his generation and the greatest American Christian poet since Eliot.
Last week a friend invited my wife and me to join her in celebrating the 50th anniversary of her perpetual vows. It was a simple but moving ceremony. There was a Mass with guests and members of her religious community. At the offertory she renewed her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and hospitality.... More
Last week a friend invited my wife and me to join her in celebrating the 50th anniversary of her perpetual vows. It was a simple but moving ceremony. There was a Mass with guests and members of her religious community. At the offertory she renewed her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and hospitality.
Urging the president to exercise prerogative power gives Congress a happy outcome without the attendant responsibility. But it hands back to the executive a responsibility that it took centuries to take away from him. ... More
Urging the president to exercise prerogative power gives Congress a happy outcome without the attendant responsibility. But it hands back to the executive a responsibility that it took centuries to take away from him.
St. Bonaventure says, in his little treatise "Bringing Forth Christ," "Seek the company of good people. If you share their company, you will also share their virtue." With this thought in mind, we used to pay close attention to who our children's friends were.... More
St. Bonaventure says, in his little treatise "Bringing Forth Christ," "Seek the company of good people. If you share their company, you will also share their virtue." With this thought in mind, we used to pay close attention to who our children's friends were.
Amid the general, bipartisan enthusiasm for the president's decision to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base, I worry that we have lost sight of an important principle. ... More
Amid the general, bipartisan enthusiasm for the president's decision to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base, I worry that we have lost sight of an important principle.
I am not the first to notice that ideas and styles spread across the fine arts, regardless of medium or genre. In the middle of the 19th century, orchestras grew to 100 or more musicians, and symphonies were lush and tuneful. ... More
I am not the first to notice that ideas and styles spread across the fine arts, regardless of medium or genre. In the middle of the 19th century, orchestras grew to 100 or more musicians, and symphonies were lush and tuneful.
At the National Prayer Breakfast last month, President Donald Trump promised to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment "and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution." I must confess that, on the list of things I hope the new administration will accomplish this year, this one is fairly far down.... More
At the National Prayer Breakfast last month, President Donald Trump promised to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment "and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution." I must confess that, on the list of things I hope the new administration will accomplish this year, this one is fairly far down.
When the U.S. Catholic bishops do their laudable work in looking out for the needs and rights of migrants and refugees, they are looking out for a large and vulnerable share of their flock.... More
When the U.S. Catholic bishops do their laudable work in looking out for the needs and rights of migrants and refugees, they are looking out for a large and vulnerable share of their flock.
The media, and we who listen to them, were surprised at the election results. I have a feeling it's not the last surprise we are in for. ... More
The media, and we who listen to them, were surprised at the election results. I have a feeling it's not the last surprise we are in for.
There is a thought experiment in moral philosophy, made famous by Philippa Foot, called the trolley problem. Imagine you are the driver of a runaway trolley that you can steer but not stop. Up ahead, the track forks in two. ... More
There is a thought experiment in moral philosophy, made famous by Philippa Foot, called the trolley problem. Imagine you are the driver of a runaway trolley that you can steer but not stop. Up ahead, the track forks in two.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg caused quite a stir this month by saying what was on her mind about Donald Trump to the New York Times. "I can't imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president," she said.... More
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg caused quite a stir this month by saying what was on her mind about Donald Trump to the New York Times. "I can't imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president," she said.
Catholic children learn the corporal and spiritual works of mercy (seven each) about the same time they learn the seven sacraments. Most of them come directly from the Gospel, especially from the description of the last judgment. They include feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, for example, as well as admonishing sinners and bearing wrongs patiently.... More
Catholic children learn the corporal and spiritual works of mercy (seven each) about the same time they learn the seven sacraments. Most of them come directly from the Gospel, especially from the description of the last judgment. They include feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, for example, as well as admonishing sinners and bearing wrongs patiently.
Blessed Teresa of Kolkata came to The Catholic University of America 45 years ago to receive her first honorary degree. If I'd been president of our school at the time I would have tried hard to get a picture of her in a Catholic University sweatshirt. ... More
Blessed Teresa of Kolkata came to The Catholic University of America 45 years ago to receive her first honorary degree. If I'd been president of our school at the time I would have tried hard to get a picture of her in a Catholic University sweatshirt.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg caused quite a stir this month by saying what was on her mind about Donald Trump to the New York Times. "I can't imagine what the country would be - with Donald Trump as our president," she said. ... More
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg caused quite a stir this month by saying what was on her mind about Donald Trump to the New York Times. "I can't imagine what the country would be - with Donald Trump as our president," she said.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, God rest his soul, was routinely described as a conservative, and so he was. He held fast to a lot of traditional values. He loved his church, his wife and nine children, and his country. ... More
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, God rest his soul, was routinely described as a conservative, and so he was. He held fast to a lot of traditional values. He loved his church, his wife and nine children, and his country.
Some people are naturally funny and good storytellers. I wish I were one of them. I have to speak in public often, and at times I have no choice but to wing it. I'm not funny or especially quick-witted, though. So when I'm called on to speak extemporaneously, it's a bit scary. I launch into sentences like a man walking down a blind alley, not knowing quite how he'll get out the other end. ... More
Some people are naturally funny and good storytellers. I wish I were one of them. I have to speak in public often, and at times I have no choice but to wing it. I'm not funny or especially quick-witted, though. So when I'm called on to speak extemporaneously, it's a bit scary. I launch into sentences like a man walking down a blind alley, not knowing quite how he'll get out the other end.
In 1968, there was a popular film entitled "The Shoes of the Fisherman," about an archbishop from Ukraine - a former political prisoner who is elected pope. On the evening after his election, he sneaks out of the Vatican dressed as a simple priest to explore the city of Rome. He declines to wear the papal tiara. He undertakes to sell the church's property to relieve a famine in China, and encourages wealthy nations to follow his example. ... More
In 1968, there was a popular film entitled "The Shoes of the Fisherman," about an archbishop from Ukraine - a former political prisoner who is elected pope. On the evening after his election, he sneaks out of the Vatican dressed as a simple priest to explore the city of Rome. He declines to wear the papal tiara. He undertakes to sell the church's property to relieve a famine in China, and encourages wealthy nations to follow his example.
Ultrasound technology was in its early days when my wife and I were having children. Pictures of our babies in utero always looked like Rohrschach blots to me. I couldn't tell top from bottom. The doctors could, though. It became possible for the first time to tell the sex of the baby before it was born. ... More
Ultrasound technology was in its early days when my wife and I were having children. Pictures of our babies in utero always looked like Rohrschach blots to me. I couldn't tell top from bottom. The doctors could, though. It became possible for the first time to tell the sex of the baby before it was born.
"How solitary sits the city, ... More
"How solitary sits the city,
Every year around this time, I go away with my three brothers to play golf for an extended weekend. Next to Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year. We have taken on greater family and professional responsibilities. Still, in more than 20 years, not one of us has missed our golf trip. It is an important commitment. ... More
Every year around this time, I go away with my three brothers to play golf for an extended weekend. Next to Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year. We have taken on greater family and professional responsibilities. Still, in more than 20 years, not one of us has missed our golf trip. It is an important commitment.
Islamic extremists touched a particularly sensitive nerve in the West this month with the murders of cartoonists from the satirical French weekly, Charlie Hebdo. The killings provoked a rally in Paris that French officials called the largest ever. President Francois Hollande was joined by the heads of European states, and by both the Israeli prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority. ... More
Islamic extremists touched a particularly sensitive nerve in the West this month with the murders of cartoonists from the satirical French weekly, Charlie Hebdo. The killings provoked a rally in Paris that French officials called the largest ever. President Francois Hollande was joined by the heads of European states, and by both the Israeli prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority.