Fr. Dwight Longenecker is a fine writer. No one expresses a certain point of view better than he does. I’m not sure how to characterize it exactly; it might be described as a via-media-at-all-costs, the straight road that veers not off to left or right. He is determined to place himself between the extremes of…
Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II Stephen Bullivant Oxford University Press 336 pages $32.95 hardback, $24.99 e-book If you want to start a heated debate in Catholic circles, just state an opinion about the Second Vatican Council’s impact on attrition rates in the modern Church. While many implicate Vatican II…
It can be bewildering, when reading about modern liturgical reforms in the Catholic Church, to compare reality (such as the disappearance of Gregorian Chant in the liturgy) with the intention, rationale, or official narrative (Gregorian Chant should have pride of place in the liturgy). While the fruits of these reforms are increasingly well documented, what…
The appointment [on Sunday, December 8] of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fidei) is an important signal for many reasons, but above all because it places us in a context in which we may suspect that Pope Bergoglio is thinking that the end…
“Tota pulchra es, Maria” is the cry of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary — a cry that rises towards the All Beautiful One, in which the splendor of God’s glory shines. They are words of ancient Franciscan origin, which are found even today in the antiphons sung, or read,…
Epistle: Proverbs 8:22-35 Gospel: Luke 1:26-28 O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling for Your Son, and Who, by Your Son’s death, foreseen by You, preserved her from all taint, grant, we beseech You, through her intercession, that we too may come to You unstained by sin. –…
Already the first great jewel threaded onto the strands of the new liturgical year is upon us: the glorious Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This year, December 8 falls on a Sunday. Yet this feast is so important that it supersedes the Mass of the Second Sunday of Advent in the traditional calendar. Dom Prosper…
There is perhaps no truth today more shunned, suppressed, and vehemently ignored than the reality of death. The modern man is consumed with indulging his slavery to his passions, proclaiming himself free, and absolutely banishing the thought that he will die. He has invented words to shun even the mention of death: “macabre,” “morbid.” Yet…
In this episode, we have an update on the case of Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, the Argentinian prelate and friend of Pope Francis who is facing criminal charges for sexual abuse of seminarians in his home country. ALSO: Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has allowed, for the third year in a row, a pro-LGBT benefit event to take…
Editor’s note: On Sunday, November 24, 2019, 1P5 contributor Dr. Peter Kwasniewski gave a lecture at the FSSP parish in Houston, Regina Caeli, entitled “A Theological Review of the Amazon Synod.” Below is the video of his remarks, including the Q&A session afterwards; below that is the unedited transcript (without the Q&A). Those who prefer simply…
St. Pius X says that “amongst the chief points of [Modernist] teaching” is the “intrinsic evolution of dogma”—that the faith must evolve and become something of a different substance, conforming to the modern world [1]. If this is the central error, it depends upon foundational principles that are false. One of these foundational principles is…
