Since the release of Fratelli Tutti a few days ago, the debate over the Church’s re-imagined position on the death penalty — covered in some depth in the new encyclical — has resumed with gusto. And the questions that surround this “development” — particularly whether it in fact represents a contradiction — have far reaching…
Much has been written in recent days about yet another Vatican scandal, this time involving Cardinal Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Faced with accusations that still have to be proven, Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s response seemed to be dictated more by anger than by love of truth, more by a delusion…
By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò Peter Kwasniewski’s recent commentary, titled “Why Viganò’s critique of the Council must be taken seriously”, impressed me greatly. It appeared (here) on OnePeterFive, on June 29, and is one of the articles on which I have been meaning to comment: I do so now, with gratitude to the author and…
A few years ago, my wife looked at me, after one of my rants about how bad things were getting in the Church, and asked me a simple question: “If this makes you so miserable, why are you still doing it?” I understood her question to be about my work, in particular, but also about…
It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it… ― Flannery O’Connor, “The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor” At mid-life, I have absolutely no patience or charity for eunuch huckster priests who sell the LGBT lie like patent medicine. At 16, I bought…
What does it mean for someone to “know that the Church is necessary for salvation”? The documents of the Church always say: If someone knows this but does not act upon it, he cannot be saved. Are there really such people?
This article was first published at OnePeterFive on March 31, 2015, under the pen name Benedict Constable. It is here republished under the name of its author. Catholics striving to be loyal to “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) are rightly and reasonably concerned about the state of the Church today. Things are…
About ten years ago, I was a confused, libertarian, atheist college freshman, and I was about to embark on a revolution – first downward towards Hell and then upwards towards Heaven. As a complacent atheist who grew up in New England and was surrounded by other complacent atheists, I had never had the existence of…
Mr. Dave Armstrong has been a successful Catholic author and blogger for some two decades. To his great credit, he is one of the few Catholics who provides a substantial critique of the traditionalist movement.[1] Without a doubt he has brought many to the Faith (particularly Protestant heretics) and strengthened the Faith of numerous Catholics.…
Recently, an event of significance for sedevacantists came to pass. The last bishop consecrated to be appointed to office in 1958 — i.e., during the reign of Pope Pius XII — finally passed into eternity. That this is so can also be verified at the Catholic Hierarchy website and the updated lists at Wikipedia. The…
It’s a Friday. A boy and his father head out in their boat to fish. The plan is to catch supper. “Dad, we’ve been out for two hours and haven’t caught anything,” remarks the boy sullenly. “The water is too dirty right now,” notices his father. “Let’s try something different.” “I was thinking we could…
