Cardinal O'Connor's Viewpoint Archives

March 16, 2000 Dorothy Day's Sainthood Cause Begins "It is with great joy that I announce the approval of the Holy See for the Archdiocese of New York to open the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of Dorothy Day. With this approval comes the title Servant of God. What a gift to the Church in New York and to the Church Universal this is!" March 9, 2000 'The Best Is Yet to Be' "On Monday of this week I was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. Imagine the surprise of a kid from Philadelphia being awarded such a prestigious honor from the Congress of the United States." March 2, 2000 The Wonderful Work of Father Dan "I have already received a number of letters from people whose lives had been touched for the good by this gentle priest. I am certain that the energy which belonged so peculiarly to Father Dan will continue to generate wonderful work for many years to come, albeit from a new and far better place. Rest in peace, my friend." Feb. 10, 2000 We Have One Pope "The pope is a unique phenomenon even in human terms. No matter what other world-famous figures might be present in any given place at any time, at the United Nations, in the capitals of the world, if the pope is being presented or offering an address virtually the whole world seems to stand still awaiting his every utterance." Feb. 3, 2000 The Rockefeller Drug Laws "For quite a while now, intensely concerned people have asked me to raise the question of the injustices of the Rockefeller drug laws. I do so with sincere concern, because I truly believe that a great number of people are being caught up in a web of laws and regulations that at least on the surface seem to result in things which do not always make a lot of sense to this amateur." Jan. 27, 2000 March for Life, 2000 "There is no such thing as a merely "annual" March for Life. Every march is unique, with its own excitement. Every marcher, while one with every other, is unique; sometimes one has plowed through ice, snow or bitter rains for countless numbers of years; others are on their first adventure in the march. All are thrilled." Jan. 20, 2000 I Thank You, I Love You "This newspaper has just packed every inch of space into a special issue devoted to my 80th birthday. Without boring every reader to tears, how can I conceivably do more than thank Catholic New York and to thank you who have been so tremendously kind?" Jan. 6, 2000 Dynamic Power of Vocations "We are on the verge of 'National Vocation Awareness Week,' but with complete respect, I hardly feel moved by the title, in comparison with all the dynamic power actually conveyed beneath the surface." Dec. 16, 1999 The Wonderful Thing "What priest of almost 80 years of age could ever in his wildest dreams have hoped to receive literally thousands of letters from all over the United States and even beyond when it is learned that he is not quite at his most vigorous?" Dec. 2, 1999 The Fight for Father Duffy "These are the reasons why Father Duffy's statue must be honored by and for all. These are the ideals that must be held up, reverenced for all to see and learn by, particularly the young. We have had more than enough of treating with contempt those who sacrificed so much in our past wars..." Nov. 25, 1999 For You, I Am Deeply Grateful "Yet do my words of thanksgiving sound hollow to many ears? I hope not. I hope that each of us can see the marvels of God's goodness to us, whatever our current unfulfilled needs." Nov. 11, 1999 Whatever Happened to Life and Death? " 'Mom, is my little brother going to die?' That's not out of a Class B movie. It's the whimpering, plaintive, even terrified cry of a child too young to know much about life, its demands, its joys, its sorrows. For a child, the distinction between life and death is icily clear. If his brother dies, there is no coming back in this life. Death for that little brother is utter desolation, total heartbreak." Nov. 4, 1999 For Those With Needs Unmet "I now can not get out of my mind the elderly who live in single rooms in apartment buildings, so many so poor, so many with no one, so many in crucial need of medical care, of psychological support. Then there are the great "in-between" in inadequate housing, with inadequate incomes, with inadequate health care, always living marginally. I could go on." Oct. 28, 1999 All He Did, So Graciously "As he did so faithfully every morning, the chancellor of this vast archdiocese, invested with enormous responsibilities, put the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass first; a priest above all, he celebrated the seven o'clock Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was the last Mass Msgr. Jeremiah Monahan would celebrate on this earth." Oct. 7, 1999 'Some Days It's Mom...' "On Jan. 7, 1999, I committed myself to periodic columns on alcoholism. The response has been most gratifying. Although numbers are never particularly important to me, since if I can help one individual or one family I am most grateful, nonetheless my columns seemed to have touched the hearts of a very large number of people." Sept. 30, 1999 Entering Into an Adventure "Sept. 20, 1999, was one of the most thrilling days since I have been in New York. It was actually born some months before, when I met with the leadership of an exceptional organization called One Hundred Black Men and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association to discuss how we might address some of the racial tensions in our city, with special emphasis on conflicts between police officers and others, especially peoples of color." Sept. 23, 1999 Thanks to Sister Ursula, Et Al. "Women religious come and go all over the Archdiocese of New York, some after many years, some after a few. It is conceivable that no group receives less praise than do they." Sept. 16, 1999 FALN: Clarifying the Record "It has been said that I requested of the United States government the release of Puerto Rican federal prisoners; permit me to clarify the record." Sept. 9, 1999 The Sound of the Shofar "It has to be the most haunting sound in the whole world, chilling, lonesome, pleading, warning, yet strangely, almost exquisitely beautiful. It's the sound of the shofar, the ram's horn, and I wish everyone could hear it at the beginning of this year's Jewish High Holy Days." Sept. 2, 1999 In a Hospital Room... "As I write these words, uncertain of the outcome of tests I will be undergoing early tomorrow morning, I find myself in unutterable peace, a peace born of the grace of God and of the goodness of God's people. Life is such a gift, and after almost 80 years of living it, I have no sentiment so strong as gratitude." Aug. 26, 1999 That Research on Abortion and Crime "The Washington Post report describes conjectures that 'As women gained the right to terminate pregnancies, they gave birth less often to unwanted, economically deprived children who grow up into the kind of young adults most prone to commit crimes.' In other words, it is suggested that abortion has lowered the crime rate by assuring that fewer poor people are born to break the law." Aug. 12, 1999 A Motel Out of Place "The Eastchester section of the Bronx, a stable, integrated, hardworking community that includes many African-Americans and Caribbeans, has become riddled in recent years with what community residents call 'hot sheet' motels, allegedly catering to threeto four-hour rentals for illicit sexual activities." Aug. 5, 1999 Conscience and the Military Oath "My interest is not in the closeness of quarters of men and women, as such. That's a question the military has been wrestling with, together with various other questions about men and women in the armed forces, for at least the past 20 years. So what is my concern? That the integrity of conscience never be demeaned, dismissed, punished or even unappreciated in the armed forces of the United States. Without it we have nothing." July 29, 1999 Lt. Berry's Moral Integrity "According to the Catholic News Service story, one Lt. Ryan C. Berry, 1996 graduate of West Point, now serving with the Air Force in Minot, N.D., faces the possibility of failing to be promoted to captain. If so, he will be dismissed from military service in 2002. Lt. Berry is Catholic, married, with one child. His crime? As reported by CNS, Lt. Berry 'has publicly stated his aversion to serve with women in his missile crew based on his belief it would create an occasion of sin.' " July 22, 1999 To Pray That They Live Forever... "I met John F. Kennedy Jr. only once, at my own breakfast table. He had come to discuss my first love, retarded children. I am pleased that I met and spoke with him, but I can not pretend to have known him or his wife, Carolyn, or his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette. I need never to have met any of them, however, to pray that they live forever in the beauty and the wonder of the words of the Masses offered for them by so many, including myself." July 15, 1999 Msgr. George A. Kelly: A Tribute "Never in the more than 20 years since I first met Msgr. George A. Kelly have I met him without thanking God that this erudite street-wise prelate is on the Church's side. He has written a library-size stack of books, each more provocative than the other, each bursting with dynamic orthodoxy from fly-leaf to finale." July 1, 1999 Browsing Through a Bookstore " 'To browse or not to browse?' Shakespeare might have asked the question had he the option of Internet. I do have the option, but for me there's no contest between buying a book 'long distance' and browsing through a bookstore." June 24, 1999 A Plea for the Jewish Prisoners in Iran "Abe Rosenthal, crack columnist of The New York Times and its former editor, has been one of the very few consistent critics of the persecution of Christians in China, the Sudan, and elsewhere. Now he sends us a wake-up call on the imprisonment of 13 or more Jews in Iran." June 17, 1999 CUNY--Kudos and Great Potential "This outsider to The City University of New York has read the Schmidt Report, "An Institution Adrift," with keen interest whetted by having first read sharply conflicting reviews." June 10, 1999 A Jewish-Catholic 'Happening' "The AJC visit on June 7, however, with the transmittal into Catholic hands of funds it had raised as a Jewish agency, was for me a new high in interfaith relations. Few gestures could bespeak more profound trust." June 3, 1999 Many Moral Questions on Kosovo Conflict "I learned once more how much I love this beautiful country of ours and how many millions share this love. I relearned, as well, the courage and the valor and the sacrifices of so many of our men and women in the armed forces, past and present, and their families. But beneath it all, I felt a deep and pervading sadness, not only over lives lost or shattered in the past, but that we seem so unprepared to apply the bitter lessons of the past to the present tragedy called Kosovo." May 27, 1999 Never Give Up on an Alcoholic "It's a brand-new book on alcoholism with a tricky title, and it asks an even trickier question. The title: 'The Normal Alcoholic,' by William F. Kraft, Ph.D. The question (one of many questions): "Can you be an active alcoholic saint?" I suspect that the author would answer: 'It depends.' " May 20, 1999 The Wonder of His Presence "As some say in Pennsylvania Dutch country, "We grow too soon old and too late smart." As I look back over more than 15 years as Archbishop of New York, I can not believe that it took me more than 13 years to restore the "old-time" observance of "Corpus Christi," the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, by way of a procession in the streets surrounding St. Patrick's Cathedral." May 13, 1999 Ten Good Men for a Power-Mad World "Ten good men and true as they are, they will lie face down on the floor of the sanctuary of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday, the 15th of May, 1999, as a sign of their becoming servants of God's People, as priests. Should the day come that any one of them should believe himself to be, if only for a fraction of a moment, more than a servant, for that fraction of a moment he would demean his priesthood." May 6, 1999 Gentle Woman, Quiet Light "My mother was not a woman for all seasons after the fashion of a Thomas More. Nor would Henry VIII have cared what she thought, said or did. She never could have threatened his royal power or even his royal ego. He would have looked at her as a nobody, if he looked at her at all. And with that she would have been quite content. But she was a woman for my seasons and for the seasons of the rest of the kids in our family." April 29, 1999 Conditions for a Just War "I know of the situation in Kosovo and its surroundings only from the media and from a few eyewitnesses. I have obviously been privy to no highor low-level conferences with any authorities in NATO or in our own government. But from what I have been able to discern, it is enormously difficult for me to feel assured that the prosecution of this 'war' meets the requirements of 'just war' teaching." April 15, 1999 A Beautiful Little Booklet "The gallant faithful who come each morning to the 7:30 a.m. Mass I celebrate in St. Patrick's Cathedral as often as I can deserve much better little homilies than I have been giving them for 15-plus years. Starting very soon things will be looking up, as I begin to plagiarize the exquisitely beautiful thoughts offered in a little jewel of a new monthly publication called Magnificat." April 8, 1999 Enough of This Shedding of Human Blood! "How can we speak of peace, the pope asked in his Easter Sunday message to the world, when populations are forced to flee, people are being killed, homes being burned to the ground?" April 1, 1999 A Priority: Efforts for Justice for All "Many others have come to see me since I issued an invitation to do so, after the death of Mr. Diallo. With each group, each individual, I have discussed my fundamental and passionate conviction: that constructive and lasting change will come in direct proportion to the recognition by each of the sacredness of every human person as made in the image of God." March 25, 1999 Will I Be Holier? "Holy Week has a wonderful way of reminding us of how little we have accomplished if we have not begun to be holy. At the same time, the words of Cardinal Newman offer hope to the least of us in the struggle: 'To obtain the gift of holiness is the work of a life.' " March 18, 1999 Art That Breathes the Peace of a Poor Man "Hardly a reporter of the many who accompanied Archbishop Jorge Mejia and me on our tour of the Assisi exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art failed to ask why we consider the exhibit important." March 11, 1999 My Mother's Cinderella Story "I loved my mother long before I heard that story after all these years, but how can I not love her even more now? Yet the story surprises me not at all; it's the kind of thing she did as a habit." March 4, 1999 On Alcoholism: By Those Who Have Been There "Early in January of this year I did a column on alcohol, 'The Drug That Gets Away With Murder,' and said I would return to the subject periodically. Letters are still coming in from all over the country... I offer excerpts chosen, in part, to avoid any risk of violating confidentiality." February 25, 1999 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "Perhaps few elements of the Mass escape our concentrated attention more frequently than do the opening prayer, the prayer over the bread and wine about to become the Body and Blood of Christ, the prayer after Holy Communion." February 18, 1999 What I Shared With 33 Men "How many of them will become priests? I haven't the slightest idea. I believe, however, that God invited those 33 men to the retreat I conducted over the long 'Presidents Weekend' for his own purposes." February 11, 1999 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "What is the 'right' way to exchange a sign of peace? Liturgists might vary in opinions, but surely it is somewhere between a cold shoulder and a free-for-all. The very purpose of a sign of peace should tell us that." February 4, 1999 Mary's Sign in Guadalupe "It is impossible to forget the people, the little people, the ordinary people en route to Guadalupe. Bishops and cardinals in buses, we left our Mexico City hotel at 6:30 in a cold, black morning to inch our way to the shrine for a 10 a.m. Mass with our Holy Father." January 21, 1999 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "The longer one is a Catholic priest, the more likely it is that he has been asked sincerely by Christians of other persuasions: 'Why can't I receive Communion in the Catholic Church?' " January 14, 1999 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "...one sometimes gets the impression today that some people believe they must receive both the Sacred Host and the chalice of the Precious Blood in Holy Communion, or that somehow they are being deprived." January 7, 1999 The Drug That Gets Away With Murder "There can be no question, drugs as we commonly think of them are fearsome, pernicious, horrifyingly destructive. But a mind-altering, mood-altering addictive drug too rarely thought of as a drug at all receives far too little notice and literally gets away with murder: alcohol." December 24, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "It has always puzzled me that Mary seems rarely mentioned in books on the Mass. I am not speaking of homilies about Mary, but about the integral role I believe she plays in the actual celebration of the Mass." December 17, 1998 A Pastoral Letter for Christmas "That's what the great jubilee will commemorate. That's why we will be jubilant. It is for this that we must prepare. We prepare for a year--for a thousand years--of great reconciliation: reconciliation of the whole world with itself, with God." December 10, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "Hymn-singing is one of the oldest forms of prayer known in either Christianity or Judaism...If hymn-singing is such a "natural" form of praying, why do so many Catholics seem to hate to sing?" December 3, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "May I suggest that young people today secretly hunger to be lifted out of themselves, long to be divinized, are the first to recognize that if the Mass is nothing more than they can watch on video shows on television, it is not worth their time?" November 26, 1998 A Pastoral Letter for Advent "Joseph is worth thinking about during Advent, it seems to me. He was a man who always did his best, or, as Matthew puts it, "always did what he thought was right." It couldn't always have been easy." November 19, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "There is no easy road to concentration. Starting to think about Holy Communion even before we leave home can help. Praying fervently en route and upon arrival can help further." November 12, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "I would hate to see a surge toward moral rigidity, but are there some today who either see nothing as sinful--indeed, have lost the very notion of sin--or believe that by receiving the Eucharistic Christ their sins are 'automatically' forgiven?" November 5, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "It is time in our reflections to think about Holy Communion. What does it mean? What happens when we 'receive' Holy Communion? What is expected of us? What is meant by 'spiritual communion'?" October 29, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "If preaching is to be effective, the listener must permit the word to enter into his or her very being, and let the word take us into himself." October 22, 1998 The Finest Work on Human Life "The only way I could have been at his Funeral Mass would have been to absent myself from another Mass reflective of everything he lived for. He would not only have objected; he would have censured me in his beloved The Human Life Review." October 8, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "In traveling the archdiocese, as in the cathedral itself, I am deeply impressed by the care, the thoughtfulness and the reverence in almost every case, of those ministers of the word whom we call lectors...Being a lector is not only a privilege, it is an obligation." October 1, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "Let us examine here briefly two of the special ministries of the liturgy, those of the deacon and the extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, respectively. Other special ministries will be considered later." September 24, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "When the Mass appeared in English, some priests seized the initiative, with the best of intentions, to advance congregational participation...There was generally much sincerity in this 'democratic' approach to the Sacred Liturgy, and a number of priests and other adults were happy that young people were less resistant about coming to Mass and were even going home to tell what a good time they had had...Less and less frequently did one hear the term, "the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass." September 17, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "The reality is that everything the Church teaches rises or falls on the basis of both who Jesus is and who he said he is. If he is not the Son of the Living God; if he is not the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, equal to the Father and to the Holy Spirit; if he did not become man; if he did not suffer and die for us; if he did not rise from the dead, then everything the Church teaches, everything we believe, is vain and empty, 'a tale told by an idiot,' as Shakespeare's Macbeth calls life itself, 'filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.' " September 10, 1998 Pastoral Reflections on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "In my own judgment, this 'crisis of worship,' as it has been called, is the most serious crisis confronting the Church today. Some may consider that judgment excessive. I do not." September 3, 1998 Is It Really Necessary for Me to Speak? "Do I advance the salvation of souls by publicizing my own speculation or by offering my own verdict? I don't think so. By my silence do I further damage souls already damaged by scandal? I don't think so." August 27, 1998 Were the Attacks Morally Justifiable? "I would hope that if our government has not yet done so, it would appeal to scholars of the moral dimensions of warfare to offer their analyses of what we seem to be about as a nation. Americans deserve no less, nor do the peoples of the world, including those who currently consider themselves our enemies." August 20, 1998 Revulsion Against Violence in Any Form "Tanzania, Kenya, Omagh! Utter madness, unspeakable obscenities, murders most foul. But isolated from one another? Unique?" August 13, 1998 Sorting Out Responses to Papal Documents "Some newspaper commentaries immediately attacked our Holy Father for "again" attempting to centralize all authority to himself and extend the "highly questionable" doctrine of papal infallibility to the most outrageous extremes." August 6, 1998 When Will the Holocaust Really End? "The campaign for justice for Holocaust victims and survivors vis-a-vis the Swiss banks is making progress. If we permit it to wither away or to be deliberately checkmated, all humanity will be further diminished." July 23, 1998 The Story of Crystal Farley, Age 12 "Nothing, absolutely nothing, insist some of the leading pro-abortionists in our land, may be permitted to come between a young girl and an abortion." July 16, 1998 Along the Road to the Sisters of Life "The Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life on Manhattan's West Side is a delightful mile's walk from our East Side residence. I started out alone the other evening, thinking I would get a Rosary in on the way." July 9, 1998 A Dumb Implication "Were I Ms. Anne Buckley, Editor in Chief of Catholic New York, I would be highly insulted by an allegation made in a Chicago newspaper." July 2, 1998 The Outrage of Abe Rosenthal "I do not know the reason for the Times' decision to cut Mr. Rosenthal to one column a week, but it distresses me no end. At the same time, "God writes straight with crooked lines" and maybe the United Nations will recognize that a shrewd and honest writer now has some free time that he could spend as an adviser on human rights." June 25, 1998 'The Story of a Love' "Father Maurice Belliere knows he is not the priest he would like to be. Therese of Lisieux knows that God loves him not despite his weakness but because of his weakness. They are both right, and that is the drama of the book." June 18, 1998 Responsibilities of Regional Vicars "I have chosen to determine and to publicize the duties and responsibilities of Regional Vicars officially in this column, rather than in a letter to our priests, so that all may know that the vicars are available to them. Anyone in a vicariate is free to contact the Regional Vicar." June 11, 1998 A Light in the Death Culture Gloom "In the gloom of federal support of physician-assisted suicide and partial-birth abortion and the use of RICO against pro-life protesters, the little sign that every sister has in her room is a wonderful light in the darkness: 'Without joy, there can be no Sisters of Life.' I will bet on joy against death any day." June 4, 1998 We Will Celebrate the Living Christ "On Saturday evening, June 13, we will celebrate the Body and Blood of the Living Christ in a very special way. Beginning at 6 p.m., at St. Patrick's Cathedral, we will have an outdoor procession, carrying, venerating, celebrating the Body and Blood of the Living Christ, in honor of the feast of Corpus Christi." May 28, 1998 The Armed Forces Deserve Priests "Service men and women and their families need priests and deserve priests, priests who teach and preach courageously what the Church teaches and preaches courageously, and who bring the sacraments and care for God's People as a priest does in civilian life. It is a great work and a high calling. I am just a little too old." May 21, 1998 Suicide Can Be Explained, Not Justified "But mercy never clouds judgment about what is objectively right or wrong, intrinsically good or evil. Church teaching, reiterated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is quite clear: direct suicide is morally evil. It can be explained by countless motivations. It can be justified by none." May 14, 1998 Unthinkable as a Cigar at Breakfast at Age 10 "Can we put the question bluntly? Is it more important for a youngster to go to church than to play baseball or soccer? Don't we normally give prime time to what we believe is most important? Surely, prime time for church for families continues to be Sunday morning." May 7, 1998 The Real Anger of Abe Rosenthal "Is anyone listening to Abe Rosenthal? He is writing the most powerful columns I have seen on the persecution of Christians in China and elsewhere." April 30, 1998 What a Way to Spend a Lifetime "For the priest, of course, and the religious, this is at the heart of their vocation: to encourage, inspire, shout from the housetops the wonder and the glory of knowing and loving and serving God, to proclaim to the whole world the priceless value of souls. What a way to spend a lifetime." April 23, 1998 The Sun...the Trees...the Murderer... " 'The sun was shining, the trees were flowering and the murderer kept on killing.' What chills me about these words is the expression of ordinariness, that life went on during the days of the Holocaust as life goes on in the streets of every city every day." April 16, 1998 Play Ball! But Not on Good Friday "I love the Yankees, I love the Mets. I love baseball. This was to be the summer that even if the creek rose, I was going to get to some games. Not this year." April 9, 1998 After Good Friday...Easter "The most poignant moment during Holy Week for me every year comes when I enter the cathedral on Good Friday to begin the three-hour commemoration of the hours that our Divine Lord spent on the cross." April 2, 1998 Holy Week: A Meditation "Holy Week is the great summation, Easter the great culmination of everything that Catholic and many other Christians live for, sacrifice for, and, through the centuries and still today, die for." March 26, 1998 My Promise to Separated or Divorced People "It was as moving an afternoon as I have experienced in New York. Three hundred and fifty people or more with marriages on or perilously close to the rocks came to hear what the Church might have to say to them." March 19, 1998 The Irish Dream of True Unity "If there is any city in the United States in a position to exemplify and to advance the cause of unity it is surely New York... No people has a greater obligation to help this city lead the way than do the peoples of Irish blood, for no people have had to struggle harder to exercise their right to be Protestant, to be Catholic, to be Jewish, while still being proudly, quintessentially and unapologetically Irish." March 12, 1998 The Possibility of Becoming Priests "What has distressed me, however, each time I have celebrated Mass for deaf-mutes has been that, whereas after many Masses I call on single men present to reflect on the possibility of becoming priests, I said never a word at these special Masses." March 5, 1998 For the Separated, Divorced or Remarried "The Church loves you very much, you who are in such situations. Now I want to make up for having given you too little attention in my marriage series." February 26, 1998 Archdiocese's Policy on Cremation "It's not a brand-new word, but it's being used far more frequently than in the past. As cremation becomes more common, so with the term 'cremains,' for 'cremated remains.' I am happy to go for months without hearing it, but that's purely a matter of taste." February 19, 1998 For Someone to Become a Priest... "...it is virtually certain that a number of these highly qualified candidates won't be able to afford to become priests in New York. Does that sound too shocking to be true? Then be shocked, because it's true, and it frustrates the life out of me." February 12, 1998 The Peace and Purity of Lourdes "I last went to Lourdes in the quiet time, the middle of winter, to accompany a man filled with cancer and hope." February 5, 1998 Do Whatever You Can--for Him "Some people actually like to ask for money and they are outstanding at getting it. I envy them. I hate it. I do not need my confessor to tell me the reason: I am too proud." January 29, 1998 Giant Steps by This Giant of a Pope "Our Holy Father insisted his visit to Cuba was pastoral. From my viewpoint, it could not have been more so. The shepherd had come to feed his people." January 22, 1998 A March and a Pilgrimage "We march in Washington each year on the 22nd of January, the anniversary of the infamous decision of the Supreme Court called Roe vs. Wade, legalizing abortion on demand, because we believe that our marches and our prayers and our letters and God's grace will one day end the horror of abortion in our land." January 15, 1998 At 78, the Music Is Even More Glorious "It is frequently observed by the priests I live with that one of these days I will either fall flat on my face in running up and down the cathedral altar steps, or trip and go soaring out over the congregation." January 8, 1998 Wondrous Things Still Happen... "My awe comes from seeing and listening to these talented, mostly young women in a world so often described as a virtual cesspool of evil (if a description with which I do not agree), already living lives that in an earlier age might have led to canonization!" Return to Cardinal O'Connor Archives