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
Stephan Phelan, communications director for Human Life International, has written a thoughtful article at Catholic Advocate on the recent scandal at the Catholic Health Association and its impact on “the future of Catholic unity.” Phelan’s concern is underscored by the statement of three Cardinals on behalf of the USCCB, referring to CHA’s “rogue” support of … Read more
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an unpleasant topic, but it’s making headlines right now because the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) just changed their position on it, leaving room for U.S. doctors to do an abbreviated form of the procedure known as “nicking.” There are four main kinds of FGM. “Nicking” is the least severe, … Read more
I am pleased to report that I will be speaking about “Catholics in Political Life Today ” with Ross Douthat and Melinda Henneberger on Wednesday June 2 at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The man to thank for organizing the talk is Dr. John Breen of Mirror of Justice fame. I can hear … Read more
We Catholics used to be known for the importance we attached to marriage. But in my 13 years as a professional journalist, I rarely read Catholics discuss in detail why marriages succeed or fail. We talk about gay marriage, cohabitation, divorce and adultery, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. But never do we discuss a greater threat to … Read more
When I hear or see people arguing about liturgy, either on-line or in person, I tend to run the other way. This is not for lack of an opinion, or out of some sense of not wanting to be “controversial”; I run because even people who think they know about liturgy are really quite uninformed … Read more
This will be of interest to IC readers: Former television news producer and anchor Bob Bowden has created his first documentary — a feature-length indictment of the education establishment. The Cartel has won both film festival awards and a long list of rave reviews. The trailer will certainly get your heart pumping: [UPDATE: Like a … Read more
It seems somebody one day had the bright idea of asking Samuel Johnson whether he wrote for money. It’s easy to imagine that great man of letters and lexicographer of the late 18th century puffing up like an angry blowfish as he replied, “Sir, anyone who writes for anything except money is a fool.” … Read more
Clark Griswold himself would have been proud (and maybe even a trifle envious) of the way I spent the last ten days of my life. My family and I were subjected to privileged to spend 8+ hours on the side of a Wyoming road in 30 degree weather with two fewer tires than is generally considered … Read more
The Jesuit CEO of UCA News says that the Catholic understanding of transbustantiation is no longer tenable in our “post-Newtonian world of quantum physics.” Physicist Stephen Barr begs to differ: [O]ne can explain the doctrine of transubstantiation and distinguish it from other beliefs about the Eucharist without any use of the Aristotelian apparatus. I don’t … Read more
Does the First Amendment need protection from itself? A case from Washington State, although just rejected by the Supreme Court, suggests it might: Franz Biebl, a perfectly pleasant Bavarian composer, has been banned there, in Snohomish County. Worse, it was Biebl’s most popular work, his setting of “Ave Maria,” that was expelled from Henry “Scoop” … Read more
This is interesting: A newly-completed study of fetal death rates in September, from 1996 to 2002, found that 12% more male fetuses died in September 2001 (after the 20th week of pregnancy) than in the other years. According to the BBC News, fewer boys were born in the U.S. three to four months following 9/11. … Read more
God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. This mission was confided to them, not to let it become stale but to make it bear fruit. They were called to take care of it, to tend it, and to develop it. Nature was the material, and man was to foster its development and to … Read more
A few years ago, we got fleas. It happened exactly one week after we gave the world’s stupidest cat the old heave ho. The flaming injustice of this timing should have taught me something about the way the gods of vermin feel about me. It should have prepared me for what happened to us a few … Read more
The Cannes Film Festival closed over the weekend, and much of the buzz out of France has been over the Grand Prix winner, Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Gods and Men). It recounts the story of a group of French Trappists who were caught in the middle of the Algerian civil war and ultimately … Read more
While Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul pulled back from the national media after his Rachel Maddow Show appearance, he did allow one interview on Friday with local television station WHAS11. It hasn’t gotten much notice, but it’s worth reading. Paul said one lesson learned from the MSNBC experience is “I need to be very careful … Read more