Does Being United Mean Being Unionized?
An issue, now looming on the horizon, makes me remember a conversation I had, I believe in Maine, with an aged man, retired after many years in New England politics. He’d been asked the day before -– given his many years in elected office -- what his formula for success was. “I don’t know the formula for success,” he’d replied, “but I know the formula for failure: try to to please everybody.” (Click on the blog's main title to read the whole.)
Gathering memories in the Sicilian town of Taormina
It's been called the most picturesque place in Italy. Taormina, a Sicilian town of cobblestone streets, set high above the Ionian Sea, from which you see some of Europe's most magnificent views including puffs of smoke from Mount Etna. (Click on the article's bold title to read the whole.)
What about those Mafia funerals?
Some days -- including relatively recent -- it almost seems that, to modify the ancient saying of the poor, the Mafia will always be with us. Television series are made about it, movies are produced about it, books are written about it. (Click on the blog's bold title to read the whole.)
Excuse me, are you gay? If so, go elsewhere.
A few weeks ago, I put on my dark suit and collar, then headed off to speak at a funeral. I was just out of our building when a man I know slightly suddenly stepped out of nowhere and put a question to me. Actually it wasn’t really a question. He wanted to tell me something: the Bible says gay sex is sinful so therefore gay people should not be ministers. (Click on the blog's bold title to read the whole.)
Pope Francis: The Man, The Faith
One afternoon in early March, two men went for one of their casual strolls on the leafy streets of Rome. Since both were Catholic intellectuals, it was natural that they talked theology. Moreover, a major conclave was a few days away, one that would choose the next Pope. (Click on the article's bold title to read the whole.)