With the release of another predictably vapid World Youth Day “hymn”, the time may be ripe to once again address the problem of “kitsch” in the Catholic Church. The age of glowing artifice has successfully blinded even some of the most faithful, and it’s high time that somebody shot the elephant in the room (poaching…
A critique of the 1965 Order of Mass, in three parts A recent online discussion of more reverent Catholic liturgy has revived consideration of the 1965 “transitional” Roman Missal and its similarities with the 1962 Roman Missal (called the Vetus Ordo, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, or the Traditional Latin Mass). As a…
In my experience, it is impossible to talk about the Catholic custom of women wearing chapel veils at Mass without encountering judgment. Progressives will insist that the practice is an outdated custom to be tossed aside. Reactionaries will declare that women who do not cover their heads in Mass are sinning and that canon 1262…
The universality of Catholicism implies a socially inclusive Church. From its revelation in the institution of Christ and the preaching of the apostles, the New Testament reveals the Church as the home of every natural identity. She embraces women as well as men, the poor as well as the rich, the learned and the simple,…
In a recent article here on OnePeterFive, “Liturgy, Adaptation, and the Need for Context,” Adam Michael Wood attempts to draw a sort of liturgical middle way between rigorist traditionalism and laxist liberalism. I recommend reading the article yourself in order to understand his argument, much of which I would agree with. (For more context on…
Historically authentic productions of Shakespearean plays are occasionally in and out of fashion. Recently a movement championing “original pronunciation” purports to let us hear Shakespeare’s words precisely as they would have been spoken when the plays were originally written and performed. It is artistically irresponsible to mount a performance of a Shakespearean play —…
As a publisher of a Catholic website, I receive lots of information that may be of interest to readers. Lately, that has included press releases about the activities of USCCB-related organizations like the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). The CCHD has been under scrutiny by pro-life Catholics for about as long as I can remember.…
There are worse things in life than losing a child before birth, but I have experienced very few of them. The truth is, it wasn’t the first second-trimester loss that nearly did me in, it was the second. It was after that miscarriage that I finally understood something that had made no sense to me before. Joe, a troubled…
While Humanae Vitae is viewed today as the Catholic Church’s official response to the increasing acceptance of birth control within marriage, the actual teaching contained within Pope Paul VI’s landmark 1968 encyclical is much more profound and prophetic than many remember. Looking back over the past forty plus years since it’s release we can see…
Tonight, I was looking at photos of the March for Life. As I was scrolling through them, Ivan, my six-year-old, came into the room. “What’s that, Daddy?” He asked, as he looked over my shoulder. I found myself wondering if I should tell him. But then again, why not? Evil exists. It’s part and parcel of…
Poland, 1982: A young woman early into her fifth pregnancy sits in a doctor’s office at the end of an examination. “You know, ma’am, you really need to be more responsible about your fertility. You don’t have to breed like a rabbit.” The doctor – a dedicated communist – proceeds to write her a referral…
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