We’ve heard it before: universities have changed. Professors no longer teach “Shakespeare 101,” but “Shakespeare and Gender in Multimedia” or “Elizabethan Bard Culture.” And poets like Milton and Crashaw have been “canceled.” The classics aren’t just too dead, too white, and too male — they’re too elitist now, too. To delight in the grandeur of … Read more
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices In your pose as the dust settled around us And the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love Grey clouds roll over the hills Bringing darkness from above The pop song “Pompeii,” by the band Bastille, is an upbeat earworm that … Read more
Imagine you are arriving early for a Friday-night youth event at a nearby Catholic parish. The youth minister is busy strumming the three chords of his newly created worship song, so you strike up a conversation with the longtime parish youth coordinator, Joan, a former nun who has never had a job, nor a life, … Read more
Allow me, if you will, a discursive break in a Friday blog post from my normal policy of not writing about other writers. Sometimes, a person generating enough bizarre commentary warrants a response. I am referring to Massimo Faggioli. Faggioli, whose name translates roughly to something like “Maximum Beans,” (a popular observation that apparently really bothers … Read more
…but never quite found the time, take yourself over to Crisis Magazine and read the excellent overview of the Francis Pontificate from Julia Meloni entitled, Francis Allies Reveal Their Plans for Revolutionary Change. Here’s an excerpt, and yes, it’s all this well-written: For Murphy-O’Connor and other mafia alumni, including Cardinals Kasper and Danneels, had expertly toured pre-conclave gatherings … Read more
I grew up with a deep affection for the pope. My childhood featured Pope John Paul II, and my siblings and I learned to love and appreciate him for being a bold defender of the Catholic faith. Indeed, the pope’s portrait was hung prominently in our home. His Koran-kissing, or further, his appointments of kissing … Read more
Editor’s note: During the Synod on the Family in 2015, Panamanian cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán had this to say about divorce: “Moses drew near to the people and gave way. Likewise today, the ‘hardness of hearts’ opposes God’s plan. Could Peter not be merciful like Moses?” Keeping in mind that “God’s plan,” according to … Read more
Yesterday, I asked a question on my Facebook page that has been on my mind: Does the proposition, “The Catholic Church as we know it no longer exists” seem like an overreach? I think we’ve reached a point where we have to re-define our terms. Dozens of comments later, I can’t say that I have … Read more
On 25 May, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), wrote a letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx and the German bishops. He told the German bishops’ conference not to publish their pastoral handout allowing some Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion under certain conditions. Today, … Read more
Cardinal Walter Brandmüller – one of the four dubia cardinals – just published in the German newspaper Die Tagespost a commentary responding to the recent claims put forth by the right hand of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. That is to say, especially her call for female priests in the Catholic Church. Brandmüller thus firmly … Read more
It’s been a very long week. The kind you feel deep down in your gut. The fallout of the Alfie Evans case continues, and I’ve spent more time on Twitter than I should have over the past few days doing battle with the ghouls who continue to protest that Alder Hey did nothing wrong and … Read more
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