Commentary
Make America Good Again
Never mind that the tablets of the Ten Commandments grace the Capitol Dome. Love for power replaces love for God.
What Hath Commonweal Wrought? Catholic Lay Opinion Journalism 100 Years Later
I know quite a few who, upon reaching adulthood, filled the gaps in their religious education by watching EWTN. For me, it was the Catholic magazines. This, again, was the 1990s—the decade before the internet destroyed everything. Even apart from the three dissident publications I just named—even among the orthodox publications—the diversity was amazing.
G.E.M. Anscombe—Contraception and Chastity
"For we don't invent marriage... any more than we invent human language. It is part of the creation of humanity and if we're lucky we find it available to us and can enter into it. If we are very unlucky, we may live in a society that has wrecked or deformed this human thing."
On letting reality shine...through Christ
As Christianity has waned, we in the West have frequently attempted to reduce all the arts, including music, to the lowest common denominator, along with every other appeal to the human mind and human sensibilities. But just as beauty cannot be reduced to the lowest common denominator, neither can goodness and truth.
What the NY Times missed in the latest encyclical: the whole point
Is it now considered bad taste, by the standards of mainstream journalism, to mention the name of Jesus? Even to mention that the Roman Pontiff has mentioned that name? Because Popes often do that, you know; it shouldn’t come as a shock even to the sensitive readers of the New York Times.
Reckless Persistence
Popular culture teaches us to “trust our feelings.” Baloney. Our emotions should not rule us. We should rule our passions.
It’s not 2004 anymore: The stale Catholic debate over voting ignores new threats
In the twenty years between Mario Cuomo’s 1984 speech and John Kerry’s 2004 presidential run, nothing had changed. In the twenty years since John Kerry’s campaign, everything has changed. But we are still trapped in a stale system that keeps spinning in place, reproducing the same arguments and frustrations over and over again.
The new Sacred Heart encyclical: Encouraging!
The new encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a major effort to gather together the many threads of devotion to the heart of Our Lord as it has developed down through history, and as it deserves to be renewed and deepened in our time.
Cardinal-designate Radcliffe objects...
Father Radcliffe says that he does not know how I could have misinterpreted his argument. I think I do know why he misinterpreted mine.
Rufinus of Aquileia and the Apostles’ Creed
Rufinus is mostly known as the translator of Origen, and the opponent of St. Jerome in the controversy over Origen. But he also wrote an important commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, which is on Dr. Papandrea’s list of “state of the art documents,” patristic works that succinctly showcase the state of the development of doctrine at the time they were written.
Chicken Man
The Christian redefinition of greatness allows even the most ordinary people to be great... No job is too small for greatness, provided we perform our tasks with love and diligence.
Catholic hospitals must witness to the Truth
Legally-speaking, the use of the word “Catholic” in a name or statement of purpose has always involved a certain connection with, or at least permission of, the bishop of the diocese in which an organization is located or controlled. This may not always be upheld in secular law, but it must certainly be assumed in ecclesiastical law, and any organization which bears the Catholic name ought to be approved, or if necessary repudiated, by the official Church.
Freedom in vocation: The Sound of Music (1965)
The Sound of Music is rightly beloved by Catholics. James and Thomas discuss the movie's all-around excellence, break down Julie Andrews's virtuosic performance, and explore what the film says about the freedom and openness necessary to discern and pursue one's vocation in life.
Truth and Goodness? Yes, but we must not forget Beauty.
Catholics today are developing a keener sense of the formative power of the arts, as compared with my own generation, which was focused almost exclusively on the new and very bad philosophical and theological propositions and ideas which haunted the Church.
The Reformation is over
Now, I fight for a living. But when it comes to Evangelical Protestants, I’m a lover, not a fighter. And what I want to say to my Evangelical friends, whom I love, is this: The Reformation is over. Come home.
Father Radcliffe blames the Russians—not the Bible
Perhaps we are entering a different sort of conflict in the world: a conflict between the morally decadent West, which promotes a hedonistic culture, and a resurgent Africa, where Christian leaders are unapologetic about their faith and— not coincidentally— Christian influence is growing.
185—The Stigmatists—Paul Kengor
In his new book, The Stigmatists: Their Gifts, Their Revelations, Their Warnings, Paul Kengor gives a historical overview of the phenomenon of the stigmata, focusing especially on one thing many stigmatists have in common: they receive visions, often prophetic ones.
What it means to be “welcome” in the Catholic Church
The Church in the West needs to learn once again that conversion is always a process of improvement not only by addition but by subtraction. All are welcome who are willing to accept the truth that Christ teaches through His Church. In fact, the difference between those who are welcome and unwelcome in the Church is the difference between sinners who are willing to allow Christ and the Church to help them conquer their sins and sinners who intend instead to conquer Christ and the Church.
Silent and smiling, Pope offers an opening to ‘transgender’ advocates
The Pope didn’t say anything himself. He didn’t need to.
The splendor of the priesthood
A priest may remain faithful to the Church, orthodox in teaching, but cold in devotion to the Lord.
Yes, we should celebrate Columbus Day
But Columbus did what no European did before him. Whatever Europeans may have been here prior to Columbus left no lasting legacy. You and I are part of a civilization in this hemisphere that begins with—and is in direct continuity with—the great explorer. Yes, he was motivated by ambition. He was also motivated by a deep Catholic piety.
Sifting the Synod for the Divinity
The limitation of the power of meetings in the Church explains why there is such continuity between the Church in one age and the Church in another age, and why the Church has the same structure and teaches the same thing today as she did 2,000 years ago. There are always many who purvey false teaching, and others who refute them. But the intrinsically limited power of even synodal sessions ought to alter the way we evaluate the fruitfulness of “meetings” in ecclesiastical affairs.
When top Vatican officials clash on sex-abuse discipline...
It is difficult to imagine that in this case, Archbishop Peña Parra would have rescinded the priest’s laicization without having discussed the case with Pope Francis.
Pope St. Stephen and the Sacraments
After the controversies in the mid-third century, in the aftermath of the persecution of the emperor Decius and the schism of Novatian, Pope St. Stephen was instrumental in clarifying the Church’s theology of the sacraments of Baptism and Penance and Reconciliation.
My truth? The real Personal truth is neither mine nor yours
If the first mark of our human freedom is indeed that we are capable of seeking the truth, then the chief result of our proper exercise of that freedom is not only the conformity of our minds to reality (the human definition of “truth”), but also a direct participation in the life of our loving Father, to whom we come through Christ, who is not only the truth, but the way and the life (Jn 14:6)
Harris campaign rhetoric in the Vatican newspaper
What makes his analysis remarkable is not his obvious sympathy for the Harris campaign, but the reasoning that leads him to the conclusion that a Trump victory would cause “an unprecedented twisting of democracy.”
Jesus Does Not Follow the Science
The social sciences also reveal -- with absolute certainty -- that the abuse of human sexuality and the breakdown of the family leads to poverty, despair, single mothers, abortion, perversions, disease, gangland violence, and a host of other disorders.
Highlights: making the Church less worldly, a Catholic movie from 1903, music and conversion
A collection of highlight clips from past episodes.
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