Witnesses to Hope
. . . In his stunning and deeply moving book, People of Auschwitz, published in association with the United States Holocaust Museum, Auschwitz survivor and historian Hermann Langbein wrote:“The best known act of resistance was that of Maximilian Rajmund Kolbe, who deprived the camp administration of the power to make arbitrary decisions about life and death.” In June, 1979, Pope John Paul II knelt on the floor of Cell 18 . . .
The Catholic League Just Published Due Process For Accused Priests
The Catholic League just published Due Process for Accused Priests. Please take a moment to read . . .
A Measure of Truth
. . . There I was, a 41 –year-old Catholic priest strapped to a chair in a dank office surrounded by electronic equipment with sensors on my fingers, and probes monitoring my heart rate, respiration and blood pressure while a poker-faced examiner asked me graphic questions about sex. When it was over, he told me we would be repeating the test with “re-phrased” questions in a week’s time, and then again a week after that. “Don’t even think about it,” I was told. . . .
Kill the Priest Again!
. . . She had lots of comments in her friendly letter, but in the end she wanted to know only one thing:“Are you mistreated there? I would hate to think you are mistreated.”As I read her letter, my cell mate, Pornchai, was studying for a Catholic Distance University exam. I looked up and said, “This nice lady in the UK wants to know if I’m ever mistreated.” He didn’t even look up from his book when he said, spontaneously, “Does she mean by us or by priests?”I was stunned by the irony of his question. When I didn’t answer, he looked at me. I expected sarcasm in his eyes, but there was none. He thought it was a good question. . . .
Take a Hike!
. . . Growing up, Scott refused to be left behind. My older brother and I were blind to the strength of Scott's relentless tenacity. He may have struggled to keep up with our mountain climbing skills, but I now see that we lagged far behind him in determination and sheer strength of will.In March of 1970 the three MacRae brothers climbed New Hampshire's Mount Chocorua during a treacherous Nor'easter . . .
A Day in the Life
. . . Still a regimented life, to the extent possible, is essential. So many prisoners give in to the throes of depression by sleeping half the day and ruminating most of the night. Such depression feeds itself and leads to an empty life devoid of meaning. It is tempting to fall into it at times, but it is spiritually toxic.And so no matter what keeps me awake at night, and that list is sometimes long, I am out of my steel bunk with its two inch thick mattress every . . .
Field of Dreams
. . . As I rounded a bend on the 1/4 mile track near the outfield, I was overwhelmed with a sense of the foreign. I was alone for a few moments for the first time in years. I was surrounded by silence after all the years of senseless prison din, and I was in the company of trees. It was a setting that I instantly knew could save me from Dostoyevsky's despair. . .