The people detained are human beings fighting for their human dignity, needing our support. Those detained persons are the heroes and leaders.

Late last month, on the eve of the Feast of the Archangels, a childhood dream became reality: in the suffocating humidity of a convention center in San Angelo, Texas, I held my book in my hands for the first time. Tears of joy and relief fell as I considered what a long, strange trip this process has been.

Christian literature from the first three centuries affirms that the earliest followers of Jesus Christ completely rejected all forms of violence and bloodshed – no abortion, no euthanasia, no capital punishment, no war.

These pages often acknowledge that western Oregon, Portland in particular, is unchurched. God, however, is alive and well.

Both contribute to a misunderstanding of our na­tion’s purposes, confuse the young peo­ple who are in their spiritual charge and painfully arouse the emotions of par­ents whose sons may be called to honor­able service for their country and the cause of peace.

In 2010, Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, who served in the White House under Ronald Reagan and both Bush presidents, wrote a book, “The City of Man,” about Christianity and politics. Christians, they wrote, best influence public policy by speaking and acting with grace and truth.

Every Monday morning for the past 30 years, members of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community in Washington, D.C. have been making their way across the Potomac River to pray and nonviolently witness for peace in front of the most symbolic war planning, war-making headquarters on earth: the Pentagon.

In upstate New York, a slim young nature lover who looked like St. Francis stopped on the roadside and handed us bananas and cupcakes just purchased from a meager budget. He cooked us a meal as we lounged in his tree house.

There is a lot of fear-mongering these days about immigrants. We’re told that we should fear them because they’re dangerous, untrustworthy criminals out to get us. I don’t really feel that way, but maybe it’s because I was born in an immigrant family.

We Catholics of the Portland metro area have noticed both of you tearing your hair out. We are here to help.

Our minivan is one big silver stereotype.

Granola bar wrappers on the floor. Cheerios stuck between seats. Baseball gear rolling around the back. I'll admit our car is overlooked; I'd never let the house get this dirty. It's also much-maligned, as I crack jokes regularly about minivan life.

Catholics are rightly horrified by the reported sexual exploitation of boys and men by Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, now resigned from the College of Cardinals. Other church leaders knew of his misdeeds but remained silent and kept advancing him to leadership posts. We even hear of churchmen involved in grave offenses who protect and advance each other in a conspiracy of shame.

Things have come to a sorry pass in Canada. Trinity Western University, the country's largest privately funded Christian university, was established by the Evangelical Free Church of America in 1962. It aims to promote "total student development through ... deepened commitment to Jesus Christ and a Christian way of life."

With the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy from the Supreme Court, interest groups and politicians are insisting that any replacement must pledge to uphold the court's Roe v. Wade decision on abortion.

On July 25, 1968 – in the midst of the “sexual revolution” which aggressively promoted premarital sex, pornography, homosexual activity and artificial contraception – Pope Paul VI with the courage of a prophet gave the Catholic Church and world an entirely different message.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of "Humanae Vitae." The world has changed dramatically since Pope Paul VI wrote the encyclical, mostly in ways he foretold.

In its June 26 decision on freedom of speech, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a California law that forced pro-life pregnancy aid centers to tell pregnant women how to get an abortion.