Last Thursday in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a remarkable address to a group of visiting American bishops.

Our Holy Father praised America’s founders for their commitment to religious liberty and their belief that Judeo-Christian moral teachings are essential to shaping citizens and democratic institutions.

The Pope warned that our heritage of religious freedom faces “grave threats” from the “radical secularism” of political and cultural opinion leaders who are “increasingly hostile to Christianity.”

Last Friday, the day after the Pope’s address, our federal…

This Saturday evening, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m., I will celebrate a Requiem Mass for the Unborn at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

I will be joined at the altar by my brother bishops and priests. And I hope that many of you will also be able to join us to remember the lives lost to abortion and to pray for greater respect for life in our day.

The Mass is being held on the vigil of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that created a legal right to abortion in our country.

For nearly 40 years since then, abortion has been the law of our land. The…

In this new year, say a prayer for the renewal of our Catholic Church.

The world today needs to hear the Gospel message in a new way. And the world today is looking to the Church — to each one of us — for the word of life and hope, for the truth that sets us free.

Jesus is the answer to every question in every human heart. And only his Church can show people the way to live and the path to true happiness.

But as St. Paul asked a long time ago: How can people believe in Jesus if they’ve never heard about him? And how will they hear about him unless someone tells them?

We…

Happy New Year, my friends! I hope this Christmas was a season of joy and blessings for you and your families.

This was my first Christmas as the new Archbishop, so for me it was a time of special grace.

It was beautiful to see such great numbers of people coming to church for Christmas Mass. I witnessed this in our celebrations at the Cathedral. And we saw the same thing in parishes all over the Archdiocese. I’ve heard from my brother bishops that across the country Christmas Masses were very well attended.

So many people coming to worship God for the gift of his Son! What a…

Christmas is a gift. I have felt that way since I was a child.

Growing up, my parents always made Christmas a time of wonder and joy for my sisters and I.
There was a certain spirit in the air; everything seemed somehow more alive, as if the world was filled with new possibilities.

We prayed with a little more devotion and spent more time together as a family — getting the house ready, decorating the Christmas tree; we always built a family Nativity scene for the baby Jesus.

We celebrated the nine days of Las Posadas, feeling very close to the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph as we…

Advent is a beautiful season of hope and joy, when we know that Jesus Christ has come to earth and that God is with us always.

This year, my joy is tempered with some sadness, because I know that for many of our brothers and sisters, here in Los Angeles and throughout California and our country, this is a time of anxiety and distress.

Many are out of work or do not have enough work to make a decent living. Many have had their families broken up and are living in poverty because of their uncertain immigration status.

It is hard to think of spiritual realities when there are so many…

Next week, on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a special Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica for our brothers and sisters of Latin America.

Our Holy Father wants to show his solidarity with the nations of what he calls the “Continent of Hope,” where about 40 percent of all of the world’s Catholics now live.

This historic event is a reminder of the universal nature of our Catholic Church, as one family God drawn from all nations and peoples. And this occasion should cause us also to reflect on the importance of Our Lady of…

The coming of Jesus Christ changes everything.
The first Christians spoke of his coming with great joy — as a new creation, as a bright morning star rising in their hearts. “Behold,” said Jesus, “I make all things new!”

God is not far removed from our lives or from our world!

This is the good news of the Gospel. He is close to each one of us in his mercy and love. No matter where we go, we are always in his loving presence. We just need eyes to see, and light to scatter some of the darkness. We need to awaken our sleeping hearts.

One of the earliest Christian hymns is…

I am writing this column from the other side of the country. I’m in Baltimore, attending the annual meeting of the U.S. Catholic bishops. These gatherings are important for the life of our American Church. For me personally, it is also a good chance to join with our Auxiliary Bishops of Los Angeles and to meet with our friends and brother bishops from around the country.

Every year, the bishops’ meeting has a different “feel,” as different issues rise to the surface for us to address as pastors and shepherds of the Church in this country.

This year, there has been a lot of…

Near the end of the Fifth Crusade, in August 1219, St. Francis of Assisi traveled to Egypt to meet with a Muslim leader, Sultan Malik al-Kamil.

We do not know what the two talked about. But almost since that day, St. Francis’ name has been linked to two strong desires of our human hearts — peace among peoples and dialogue among religious believers.

Recently, Pope Benedict XVI invoked the spirit of St. Francis by inviting representatives of the world’s religions and Christian denominations to Assisi for a “day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the…