Author: Dcn. James Toner, PhD

Deacon Asks: How Many Priests Have Lost Their Faith?
The Pity and the Pretense “Fidelity, fidelity, fidelity!” –Father Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) Father Frank Fourberie (fictitious) is fifty-eight years old. He has been a priest for thirty years, and he is now pastor of a large urban church …

The “War” for Pacifism and No Religion, Too
Nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake (Lev 19:16b [NAB]). “We simply cannot,” said Pope Francis. His interlocutor was puzzled, wondering what it is that we cannot do. The answer came swiftly and inexorably. …

Saintly Conformity
“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” –Leon Bloy (1846-1917) Suppose someone contended that saints are conformists. Would we not shrink from that assertion, thinking it an …

Deacon to Priests: Stop Tickling Their Ears and Preach the Gospel!
This column is a response to a piece written by a priest in a diocesan newspaper, essentially arguing that we must always seek common values and common views with all people who disagree – a false irenicism. While it is …

Profane Logic: Plagues of the Mind
Conferences at various places and conversations with many people over the past few years have persuaded me that there is a torrent of profane (meaning impious and irreverent) “logic.” This is increasingly evident, not only in our institutions, but even …

The Purposes of Our Local Church
“Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings” (Isaias 58:1 [DRB]). A recent statement from the Parish Council of Holy Trinity Church in the District of Columbia benightedly and truculently exclaims that …

Infamous Falsehoods and Distortions: The Catholic Democrat Statement
Charles Peguy (1873-1914): “It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been committed for fear of not looking sufficiently progressive.” Elsewhere, I recently published a piece pleading for the universal reinstatement of the Traditional Latin Mass. This …

Of Scorpions, Frogs, and Politics
“But my people would not listen to me . . . . So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wished” (Psalm 81:11-12; cf. Romans 1:24-25). One version of a famous fable is this: A …

The Grand Impostor
Proverbs tells us: “What a joy it is to find just the right word for the right occasion” (15:23). So it is with the word imposturous, which ideally captures the essence of the deceit which characterizes what currently masquerades as …
The Nursery of the Antichrist
Bioethically, we no longer know men from women; legally, we no longer know when life starts or stops; morally, we no longer know right from wrong or virtue from vice. Too often, our personal lives are squalid, our political affairs …
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