This, I think, is a great idea: The Vatican is planning a new initiative to reach out to atheists and agnostics in an attempt to improve the church’s relationship with non-believers. Pope Benedict XVI has ordered officials to create a new foundation where atheists will be encouraged to meet and debate with some of the … Read more
Does Israel’s recent attack on the Turkish ship, MV Blue Mamara, trigger NATO action? The Daily Kos has the relevant passages from the NATO charter. Article 5: The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently … Read more
Matt Smith, writing at Catholic Advocate, takes a look at the two Catholic candidates — Pat Herrity and Keith Fimian — vying for the GOP nomination to the 11th Congressional seat. Both Herrity and Fimian are pro-life, pro-family Catholics, while the Democratic incumbant Gerry Connolly — also a Catholic — is not. Smith is critical … Read more
It’s been a while since the Crusades. As a general rule, when our president goes abroad, he does not get waylaid on his triumphal ride home and find himself in the hands of brigands, who send wax-sealed notes back to the vice president saying, “Give us £40,000 and we will release your Dread Sovereign, that … Read more
On this Memorial Day, I find my thoughts turning to memories of my father, Jack W. Hudson. He served during World War II as the captain of a “Liberator,” the B-24 heavy bomber. Here he is with his crew (top right) — all of whom came back to the US alive. He only told me … Read more
Shortly after he became pope in November 1958, John XXIII was asked: “How many people are working in the Vatican now?” With the humor that made him beloved all over the world, the Holy Father replied: “About half.” “About half” is a more than generous estimate of the number of baptized Catholics who … Read more
On this Memorial Day, I find my thoughts turning to memories of my father, Jack W. Hudson. He served during World War II as the captain of a “Liberator,” the B-24 heavy bomber. Here he is with his crew (top right) — all of whom came back to the US alive. He only told me … Read more
This photo was taken by a photographer friend at the “Flags In” ceremony on Friday at Arlington National Cemetery. More than 250,000 flags were placed in preparation for today by members of the Armed Forces. Each flag is inserted one boot length from (and in the center of) each grave stone. My friend always wanted … Read more
The musical comedy-drama Glee debuted on Fox just over a year ago. The story of a high school Spanish teacher’s attempts to resurrect the Lima, Ohio, high school glee club surprised critics by ending its first season ranked at 33 in the Nielsen ratings. Now in its second season, the show’s ratings have only gone … Read more
So very, very crazy. Two men dressed as apes are walking around the zoo, with one baby gorilla in tow. Each of them thinks the other one is a real gorilla. Even Uncle Harry is confused. More madness from Frank Borth’s ten-part serial from 1962, lovingly stored in Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest … Read more
About ten years ago, I mentioned to a Catholic friend that I was starting to work on a book critiquing the Left Behind novels. I explained that it would thoroughly examine premillennial dispensationalism, the unique apocalyptic belief system presented, in fictional format, within those books. Premillennial dispensationalism teaches that the “Rapture” and the Second Coming … Read more
Here’s Pat Buchanan on the significance of Rep. Joe Sestak’s claim that he was promised a White House job if he ended his primary race against Arlen Specter. If Sestak was offered a high government post to get out of the Pennsylvania race, it would appear an open-and-shut case that a felony was committed by … Read more
Remember the old saying about imitation, sincerity, and flattery? This clip might be the definitive example of the ol’ saw, while simultaneously underscoring the fact that flattery and subversion are always a bit closer to one another than one realizes. The thing about the clip that I find particularly amusing/instructive is the way Zucker and Co. retained … Read more
When my husband told me that he had hired a recovering drug addict to do some carpentry work in the house this past week, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The man needed work, my husband explained, he came highly recommended by a close friend, and he could get the job done as quickly as … Read more
As the year for priests draws to a close, hindsight shows that Pope Benedict’s decision to devote this year to prayer for priests was prescient. On the dark side, it has been a year in which the scandal of abuse has dominated media headlines. But what hasn’t gotten media attention is the way the year … Read more
Marshall J. Breger was a special assistant to President Reagan and is now a professor of law at the Catholic University of America. He also served in senior positions at the Bush ’41” White House. His article from Moment Magazine on “A Republican’s Case for Peace” is quite interesting. Here is his introduction: There is … Read more
A few links to get the Friday morning rolling: News: Copernicus’s grave and remains are identified, and he is reburied in Frombork Cathedral with honors. Not news: Media accounts breathlessly declare that the Vatican is “rehabilitating” the “heretical” scientist, in “repentance for its treatment of [him] over his theory that the Earth revolves around the … Read more
I was recently in “old Europe” for a conference on Islam and to promote my new book, The Closing of the Muslim Mind (alas, not a work about music). However, what’s the point of being in old Europe without music? The very stones cry out for it. Therefore, I snuck in an opera in Vienna, … Read more
During the past six or seven centuries, succeeding pontiffs have repeatedly invited the separated Eastern Churches to return to communion with Rome. The few responses from the East have been negative — with only one exception, as far as I can determine. One member of an Eastern Orthodox Church responded positively in print… a Russian … Read more
Via Danielle Bean at Faith & Family Live comes this story about the flip side of “reproductive choice.” Greg Bruell says he had an agreement with his girlfriend that, if she were to become pregnant, she would abort the child — an agreement that she reneged on when she ultimately did become pregnant and decided … Read more