Ten years ago right now I was back at my apartment in Alexandria, Virginia, after my place of employment in Clarendon, Arlington County, was evacuated. The office building was right across the street from a major Defense Department office building, which was identified as a potential target of United flight 93. I’ll never forget the harrowing experience of that day, seeing the smoke plume fr... More

As I point out at the Gregorian Institute’s blog … September 11, 2001 showed that one religion is much stronger than anyone thought. That religion is Catholicism. Here are some of the heroes who transformed 9/11 into a story about the power of Catholic identity: Tom Burnett was a hero of United Airlines Flight 97, which passengers helped take down in Pennsylvania. A daily-Mass goer, fa... More

In an article that looks into ways Americans think differently about religion since 9/11/01, CNN.com included a photograph. Here is a screen capture that includes the caption they offered. …because “steel beam” is an accurate and comprehensive way to identify that item, and the reason it, among all parts of the collapsed towers, will be preserved in the memorial. I’m not g... More

Bill Donahue offers a typically powerful protest today: Last year, Mayor Bloomberg sought to justify his support for building a mosque near Ground Zero by recalling the bravery of the firefighters on that fateful day. “In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked, ‘What God do you pray to?’” He added, “We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional right... More

First a California school district chucks $45,000 rather than allow a few Bible verses on brick pavers.  Now we find out that a local community isn’t allowed to use the word “heaven” in a public memorial to fallen heroes. Brooklyn citizens, through their elected representatives, approved the change of a street name to “Seven in Heaven Way.” The street runs past the f... More

So what to do with Just War doctrine when considering what transpired the other day? In the raid that bagged Osama bin Laden, the United States sent a military team into another country without that country’s explicit authorization or involvement to conduct a military operation against a target within that country’s borders. The team accomplished its narrowly defined mission and then l... More