Over at The Catholic Thing this morning, Randall Smith has an delightfully scathing piece entitled “The Artificial Jesuit” (a reference to one of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories). Smith tackles the decision made by Fr. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., president of Loyola University Maryland, to strike the late (but widely beloved) Southern Catholic writer’s name from one one…
In the traditional Latin Mass, the Gospel for today’s feast of St. Martha is always Luke 10:38–42: Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the…
A few days ago, OnePeterFive published an article describing the epic reverse suffered by Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, grand chancellor of the Order of Malta, in his attempt to force through a “reforming” Chapter General with his own secularizing agenda. He was defeated by the papal delegate, Cardinal Becciu, who insisted on the Order’s laws…
John Paul II declared to the world that there’s an ecological crisis, which has caused many to wonder about their moral obligation to protect and preserve the environment. This call from the pope encouraged certain theologians to argue for a per se moral obligation. By per se, I mean that man has some responsibility to…
I set off a year ago from London in a 20-foot racing sloop declaring — half jokingly — that I would reach Constantinople and liberate it from the Saracen. I am now sitting in a bar in Catalonia, and my chief concern is that the battle will be over before I can unleash my wrath…
On July 18, 410 years ago, 1610, occurred the death of Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi (1571–1610), at the age of only 38. He died in Porto d’Ercole, Tuscany, while he was trying to return to Rome. Called the “cursed” painter in the nineteenth century, he was in love with reality as it is and…
Note: This article is the first in a new series titled, “Saints & Tradition,” which will look at the ways in which the traditional practice of the Catholic faith has impacted the lives of the Saints. In 1804, Elizabeth Ann Seton was the recently-widowed wife of an unsuccessful businessman, the mother of five children, and…
Sixteen years ago this summer, when the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter was just making inroads here in the Archdiocese of Phoenix, the first priest they sent was a newly ordained young man from France named Fr. Stéphane Dupré. My little (at the time) family got to know him quite well during his time here,…
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…
A tall, gray building stands against a gray sky, smoke and spire alike reaching towards Heaven. Thousands of ornate details confess a Gothic ancestry, this sacred place a child of stone born by the toil of generations. The face of the church remains stoic as her stained glass windows burst in the heat, hundreds of…
Twenty years ago, I was happy to enroll my six-year-old son in Cub Scouts. No organization held a higher image in terms of instilling values in boys. The Boy Scouts were never political. They honored God and were strongly patriotic. Organized through our parish, the troop was a fun and active way for boys to…
