The spiritual world has perplexed people from the beginning. The Protestant communities I grew up in were completely lacking in spiritual depth and understanding. They had a knowledge problem: they “knew” without understanding. Angelology and demonology were never spoken of. Saints were never spoken of. Miracles were actively attacked if acknowledged at all. Most miracles…
A young adult of strong faith and an admirable family piety sent a letter to me last summer with certain questions and concerns that I believe will resonate with many other readers of OnePeterFive. I will share first the letter, and then my response (with all identifying details removed). * * * Dear Dr. Kwasniewski,…
Cardinal Reinhard Marx – who received much criticism for his recent remarks on the possibility of blessing homosexual couples in individual cases – has deflected that topic for now, but he says an episcopal commission has been set up in Germany to consider it. Today, the German bishops are starting their four-day-long Spring Assembly, which…
Last night, I met with friends for a last get together before my family and I get on the road to return to the East Coast later this week. We talked about all kinds of things, but when the topic turned to the Church and what’s coming, our conversation faltered somewhat as we searched for…
Last Sunday [February 11, 2018], an interesting interview appeared on Vita Diocesana Pinerolese [the website of the Diocese of Pinerolo, Italy, near Turin in the Piedmont] (Anno 9, N.3) in which the newly appointed bishop, Derio Olivero, comments on the documents of Piedmont Bishops’ Conference furnishing guidelines for the application of the apostolic exhortation Amoris…
Many of you have probably noticed that I’ve been more quiet than usual lately. That’s because my family and I are moving again. Some of you might recall that I moved West in 2016. There were family matters that needed tending to out in the Arizona desert, and after making multiple trips across country to…
I recently saw the movie Darkest Hour. It is the story of Winston Churchill’s first days as Britain’s prime minister, just nine months into the Second World War. It is late May, 1940, and the Nazis have pushed into France, where the British, French, and Belgian forces have been trapped against the English Channel at…
The unity of the Catholic Faith is such that dogma, praxis, and spirituality cannot be separated. While each of these is distinct in terms of their acts, all are the same in object – namely, Jesus Christ Himself. All three of these are within the same sphere, and they inform each other. To understand how…
With the Lenten season upon us, and the faithful preparing for the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Our Lord, the precepts of the Church have inevitably come up from the foxhole in which they dwell throughout the rest of the liturgical year. Primarily because the Easter season is called out by name in…
By Marco Tosatti (11 February 2018) [Editor’s Note: A bestiary was a medieval compendium of animal stories, which often contained a moral point.] This is a sad clerical bestiary. More sad than anyone can imagine. Let’s give a reason: perhaps the Roman Pontiff is telling lies. And this, permit me to say it, is at…
The recent statements made by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference and papal counselor, concerning the possibility, even if only in some parishes, of blessing same-sex couples has caused quite a stir in the Catholic world. Since we ourselves reported on this specific interview, we have been following this discussion closely.…
