The Dialog

My father-in-law died this past month. He was a good, hardworking man, an immigrant, self-taught and self-reliant.

As is likely both the fear and the fate of many of us, he died in a hospital, tethered to a swarm of IVs. With various doctors weighing in on his various conditions, his family struggled to make the right decisions at a time of conflicting advice and great emotion. No one wanted him to go. No one wanted him to suffer.

All our lives, we’ve been trained to rely on doctors for advice. At this literally life-and-death moment, however, they often let us down. As Dr. Dhruv Khullar wrote in The New York Times recently, “For years the medical profession has largely fumbled the question of what we should do when there’s nothing more we can do.” Read more »

Spring, nature’s season of rebirth and growth, has taken on a deadly aspect in Dover’s Legislative Hall with the introduction of three bills this session that focus on ending lives in Delaware.

One bill, Senate Bill 5, would officially make the Federal legalization of abortion part of the Delaware code of laws. The move might seem redundant, but the bill is intended to create back-up law for the First State to invoke, should the Supreme Court ever reverse its 44 years of rulings regarding Roe v. Wade.

Bishop Malooly, in a statement on SB5, has reiterated in his opposition to the measure. He stated on May 1 that the right to life is the first and most fundamental human right, that abortion denies God’s gift of life and dignity to the most vulnerable, and that “the life and dignity of every person must be respected and protected at every stage and every condition. This applies to the unborn as well as the sick, the elderly and those on death row.” Read more »

“Out to the periphery … where God is found today” — this expression from Pope Francis for me states the mission of the church here and now.

On a Sunday afternoon last May, I walked into a church on North Market Street to pay respects to the family of Amy Joyner-Francis, a sophomore who had died of a beating in school, by other girls. Grief numbed her family, seated in the front row; the many students and parents seemed stunned. It was “what should not happen in our community.” Read more »

Based on the record of 2016, there are a lot of things to pray about in the coming year. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what we might focus our petitions on to lessen the painful effects of any bad news heading our way?

However, it isn’t hard to see the challenges, the dangers, the illnesses, the risks, the economies and the wars that afflict so many people. We can join with Pope Francis in his daily prayers for an end to war and violence in the world. Read more »

Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Read more »

Last month, I went on a weeklong silent retreat to address a nagging concern. I felt heavy guilt for how I could be enjoying my life when there are profound deprivations and unspeakable suffering.

Catholic Relief Services serves people who do not have enough nutrition, sometimes no decent shelter nor water, little access to proper medical care and, often crippling insecurity from violent conflicts and lost livelihood. Read more »

Dialog reporter

BRANDYWINE HUNDRED – Delmar’s volleyball team and its energetic supporters traveled more than 100 miles on Nov. 5 to meet Ursuline in the second round at Brandywine High School, but, unfortuately for the Wildcats, the stay in northern New Castle County was short-lived. Ursuline, the No. 6 seed in the state tournament, was all business in dispatching No. 22 Delmar in a sweep. The set scores were 25-12, 25-17 and 25-11.

The Raiders came out swinging, getting a trio of kills from freshman Corinne Furey on their way to a 9-3 advantage. Delmar earned a temporary reprieve on an unforced error, but Ursuline followed with five straight. The first and last of those points came on kills courtesy of Kylie Nocket, one a tip, the other an unplayable smash. Read more »

This past week approximately 10,000 students in parish, regional, diocesan and private Catholic schools in the Diocese of Wilmington were welcomed back to their schools by almost 1000 educators and staff. The 2016-2017 school year is underway!

Plans for the 2016-2017 school year began last December, and, in some cases, earlier. Administrators and teachers set calendars, designed schedules and rosters, acquired resources, planned activities and athletics, finalized budgets, etc. Parents chose particular schools for new students, began tuition payments, and purchased technology and uniforms. All of this occurred in preparation for the 2016-2017 school year. Read more »

In his 19th century novel, “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” H.G. Wells tells a chilling story about a doctor on a Pacific island who performs horrific experiments to craft animals into human beings.

While Dr. Moreau’s world might be far-fetched for now, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federally funded medical research agency, wants to start funding research on human-animal chimeras that could move us in that direction. Read more »

Bishop Malooly and Father Norman P. Carroll, director of the Office of Priestly and Religious Vocations and pastor of St. Elizabeth Church, met with the five current seminarians for the Diocese of Wilmington at St. E’s rectory July 21 for dinner. Read more »