Michael Sean Winters

Ambassador to the Holy See is not like most ambassadorships For starters the First Amendment notwithstanding it is the only position in the U S government that involves formal recognition of religion Ambassadors are not accredited to the Vatican City-State the 103 acres on the west bank of the

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez from California has announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first child in May Congratulations to her and her fianc eacute Jim Sullivan Last month I suggested that Sanchez would be an ideal candidate for Secretary of Labor in an Obama administration given he

It was almost painful watching the CEOs of the big three automakers testify before Congress These nbsp former titans of industry nbsp unconvincingly blamed the crisis in the financial markets for their imminent collapse a reverse Deus ex Machina that is undoing years and years of thoughtful forwa

President-elect Barack Obama has tapped Tom Daschle to become Secretary of Health and Human Services a selection that is due chiefly to Daschle rsquo s expertise in health care and his intimate knowledge of Congress and its ways The Secretary of HHS alas also oversees policies that treat abortio

Yesterday the Vatican appointed a new auxiliary for Washington D C forty-five year old Bishop-elect Barry Knestout This is a big feather in the cap of D C rsquo s Archbishop Donald Wuerl Getting such a young auxiliary through Rome rsquo s sometimes arcane appointment process is not easy Wuerl

There are many reasons to admire Abraham Lincoln His ability to bring former political rivals into the Cabinet and to manage their ambitions was one of his most remarkable political accomplishments Whether Lincoln merely wanted to keep his enemies closer than his friends or whether he saw unique p

Dear Prelates and Priests I have a suggestion about how to deal with the election of Barack Obama Keep still and be quiet Father Jay Scott Newman of St Mary rsquo s in Greenville South Carolina was all over the news for suggesting that parishioners who voted for Obama needed to go to confession

Forgive me Father for I have sinned It has been two weeks since my last confession I really like Sarah Palin Palin has been the focus of many post-mortems most of it unfair The only time the GOP was excited or McCain led in the polls was in the immediate aftermath of her selection as Veep a

On Monday Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City joined a long list of bishops issuing increasingly apocalyptic warnings about the consequences of Barack Obama winning the presidency He urged voters to consider their eternal salvation Evidently Cardinal Bertone considered his eternal salvation and

President-elect Obama ran a campaign that was arresting in its discipline There were almost no leaks But in his very first twenty-four hours since the election the news that he had offered the job of White House chief-of-staff to Cong Rahm Emmanuel leaked to the press This would have been fine