The Catholic Difference is a weekly column syndicated by the Archdiocese of Denver.
Teachers, not Managers
Great events like the Second Vatican Council always have unintended consequences. Knowing that the office of bishop had gotten short shrift at Vatican I when that Council was prematurely closed
Pack Journalism, Vatican-Style
Here’s one man’s recent Holy Week schedule: On Palm Sunday, he celebrated a three-hour Mass, preached, and led the Angelus for a congregation of over two hundred thousand. On Holy
Parsing the "New Evangelization"
The “new evangelization” is one of the signature themes of the pontificate of John Paul II. Addressing the bishops of the southeastern United States on March 17, the Holy Father
Making a Joyful Noise
An old saw among musicians has it that the angels play Bach on high days and holy days, but Mozart gets the nod when they’re having fun among themselves. It
Truth and Labeling
A senior American prelate once said to me that the “greatest curse” of Catholic life since the Second Vatican Council was the epidemic use of the terms “liberal” and “conservative”
Ockham and Us
Everybody knows and uses “Ockham’s razor” even if they’ve never heard of William of Ockham, the 14th century Franciscan philosopher. “Ockham’s razor” is a philosophical principle of economy which holds
Meditation on Opening Day
Until the philistines in charge started imitating the NBA and filling the ballparks with rock-‘n’-roll between innings, baseball taught one of the lost arts of this televisual age: the craft
At the Center of the Human Drama
According to ancient custom and church law, a bishop must make a pilgrimage to Rome every five years to pray at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. In
Dumbing Down Morals
It’s been a bad two months for moral argument in these United States. I don’t have in mind the latest White House scandal; its tawdriness goes without saying. But even
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