I am a bishop, but before anything else, I am a human being who understands the severe toll of mental illness, especially when it is left untreated.
Death and Dying
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Life and death, reconsidered
In ‘Sister Death,’ Beatrice Marovich explores the connections between living and dying in a way that seeks to refute the concept of death as enemy while not accepting it as something that is good or desirable.
Posted inFaith, News
Dr. Michael Brescia, ‘apostle to the dying’ and hospice trailblazer, dies at age 90
Dr. Michael Brescia, who prescribed love as an antidote to calls for assisted suicide, died at his home in Yorktown Heights, New York, surrounded by immediate family the evening of April 19. He was 90.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Toward Something Greater: A tribute to a family matriarch who shunned the spotlight
We ended the day of my mother’s funeral looking forward to the new life ahead of us. No better tribute could be offered to such a selfless and sacrificial woman.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Comedy is born of tragedy in the Irish memoir ‘Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?’
Seamas O’Reilly mines a family tragedy for mirth and good storytelling in ‘Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?’ James T. Keane offers his thoughts on this latest selection for the Catholic Book Club.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Pope Benedict XVI’s Holy Saturday reflections on Nietzsche and the death of God
In Holy Saturday meditations, the late pope engaged postmodern thought in exploring the thorniest of church beliefs.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
U.S. bishops: Human composting is unacceptable for Catholic burials
Human composting and alkaline hydrolysis do not satisfy the Catholic Church’s requirements for proper respect for the dead, the U.S. bishops said in a recent statement.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Suspect arrested in shooting of Los Angeles bishop is housekeeper’s husband
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was committed to ‘the ordinary person, not the rich Catholic,’ said Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration attorney who worked with the bishop. His death is being investigated as a homicide.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
The death of a good monk: Celebrating Brother Joseph’s simple and holy life
Brother Mary Joseph lay in state at Mepkin Abbey, his simple funeral liturgy soon to begin, fitting for a man who lived a simple life at the South Carolina Trappist monastery.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Eulogy vs. homily: When should you talk about the deceased in a Catholic funeral?
When someone dies, it is only right that family and friends be given a chance to share their memories of their loved one. But the balance between pastoral care and logistical realities can be a tough one to strike.