Archives
By: Tom Dermody - February 13, 2020 -
Editorial
History will judge the vote of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to convict a president of his own party during the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. We are sure our readers, like the nation, are sharply divided on his decision. But unless one considers Sen. Romney an actor deserving of an Academy Award, his confession to […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - January 29, 2020 -
Editorial
In this polarizing election year, in these weeks of a presidential impeachment trial being conducted along strict party lines, in these days when our social media feeds and even family dinner talk can turn divisive over a host of topics, we at The Catholic Post open our annual subscription drive called “Delivering Unity.” Our mission […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - January 16, 2020 -
Editorial
Rozanne Karr of St. Patrick Parish in Wapella, a mother of 19, is pictured in a photo shared by her brother John on a tribute page following her death on Jan. 6 at the age of 96.
There are many somber reasons to take part in this month’s activities marking the anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion. Primary among them are honoring the tens of millions of unborn children whose lives ended violently before birth, and praying for the conversion of the hearts of those now considering abortion […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - January 2, 2020 -
Editorial
While every year of the past decade brought its share of changes to the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Peoria, the 2010s were also marked by remarkable stability. Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, began and ended the decade as our bishop — in fact, in April he will mark 18 years as our eighth […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - December 5, 2019 -
Editorial
A statue of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen welcomes visitors to the Sheen Museum at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
This is not the issue of The Catholic Post we had anticipated delivering to your home. It’s not the first time that planned coverage changed on deadline day and it won’t be the last — that’s life in a newsroom — but as this is written our staff is still coming to grips with Tuesday […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - November 8, 2019 -
Editorial
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Oct. 26 at the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. Biden attended morning Mass Oct. 27 at St. Anthony Church in Florence and was refused Communion by the pastor, Father Robert E. Morey, over Biden's support for legal abortion. CNS /Sam Wolfe, Reuters
A month before former Vice President Joe Biden presented himself to receive the Eucharist at a Mass in South Carolina — and was refused by the pastor — the Democratic presidential candidate was the subject of an open letter penned by Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. “As the Presidential race for […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - August 14, 2019 -
Editorial
As schools reopen and parishes gear up for religious education and RCIA classes, a new survey shockingly shows that many Catholics need to return to second grade, the year most of us received our first Holy Communion. Before that most special day, we were taught repeatedly that we were about to receive not bread and […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - August 1, 2019 -
Editorial
The prevalence of security cameras is sparking a debate in society about when they might infringe on privacy. Followers of Jesus would do well do regularly clean and fine tune the lenses of their conscience, and examine its footage at the end of each day.
I enjoy tennis. In my boyhood long ago, I would practice for hours by hitting a ball against the sturdy outside walls of one of two buildings — the local high school gym or a furniture store just a block from our house. No one inside ever told me to stop, and so in my […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - July 18, 2019 -
Editorial
A sign with a Scripture verse has been hung on a vandalized statue of Jesus in Serenity Park on Peoria's south side. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
During World War II, a French village lost a beloved statue of Christ in a bombing raid. The villagers managed to rebuild the statue, except for its hands. Those pieces were never found in the rubble. Finally, the villagers placed a plaque on the statue with the inscription, “I have no hands but yours.” The […]
Continue reading
By: Tom Dermody - July 5, 2019 -
Editorial
The bodies of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, are seen June 24 after they drowned in the Rio Grande in Matamoro, Mexico, while trying to reach the United States. (CNS/Reuters)
Nine days before the United States celebrated Independence Day, a photo from our southern border stirred emotions and debate about the kind of nation we are 243 years after our founding. “This image cries to heaven for justice,” wrote two leaders of the Catholic bishops in the U.S. after the above photo appeared on news […]
Continue reading