When Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, there were any number of fascinating coincidences that surrounded his death. They were the sort of things that make you go “hmm” and (if one is a wobbly agnostic) begin to suspect that maybe You Know Who has His hand in things after all. John … Read more
The reports from Pope Benedict’s meeting with sex-abuse victims in Malta yesterday are quite moving: [One victim] said he had asked the Pope why the priest had abused him. “I could see the pain in his eyes. He said he did not know. He said the priest had betrayed his vows before God. We still … Read more
On November 17, 1942, when Operation Torch had secured the Allied occupation of French North Africa, Winston Churchill sent a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt: Very deep currents of feeling are stirred by the arrangements with Darlan. . . . We must not overlook the serious political injury which may be done to our cause, … Read more
The optimists over at The American Dream (tagline: “Waking People Up And Getting Them To Realize That The American Dream Is Quickly Becoming The American Nightmare”) say the claims of economic recovery are false. In fact, our apparent turnaround is actually the brief period of calm before a second, more serious collapse. There are troubling … Read more
With an Icelandic volcano wreaking havoc across half of Europe, geologists on our home soil are wondering what would happen if Yellowstone decided to blow again. It would not be pretty, according to AFP. Yellowstone isn’t just any force of nature, it’s a “supervolcano.” When it last erupted — some 640,000 years ago — it … Read more
In October 2001, crisis Magazine published an article, titled “The High Price of Priestly Pederasty,” by Dan Michalski. Reporting on publicly known cases of sex abuse by priests, Michalski summarized his findings: So far, more than 3,000 Catholic priests in America have been accused of sexual misconduct with minors, and nearly 2,000 insurance claims have … Read more
Technical difficulties being over, I now present the next installment of the 1962 serial Uncle Harry’s Monkey’s Uncle, by Frank Borth. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. I love the fantasy wish-fulfillment here. I mean, how many kids wouldn’t love to get … Read more
It’s refreshing to remember, from time to time, how grateful I am to live in this day and age. Even while biotech labs routinely turn out fresh horrors, the very DNA of our food is casually tortured into an unrecognizable state, and Nancy Pelosi keeps several female Senate pages in a state of suspended animation in her basement, hooked up to … Read more
Postmodern man — and postmodern woman — don’t know how to give a good party. It’s up to Catholics to reclaim this lost art and share it with the world. Why? Because good parties are intrinsic to our Catholic faith. The liturgical year is punctuated with a wide array of feast days and celebrations, many … Read more
I collect illuminating tidbits from Modernity and offer them to discriminating readers from time to time. Herewith are the most recent for your delectation. A Parade magazine poll on spirituality reported that “69% of Americans believe in God,” and that “77% pray outside of religious services.” While the article invites us to find encouragement … Read more
The grocery chain Whole Foods has launched a campaign called “Let’s Retake Our Plates.” On their Web site, visitors can trace where their food (purchased at Whole Foods, of course) comes from, as well as take regular polls to qualify for discounts at the store. The most interesting part of the campaign is the film … Read more
Good Friday morning! A few links to get the day rolling: A Rasmussen poll this week shows President Obama neck and neck in a hypothetical 2012 match-up against…Ron Paul? If it sounds too good to be true, it is, says Nate Silver, whose own number crunching shows no Republican doing better against Obama than an … Read more
A Cracking of the Heart David Horowitz, Regnery, 188 pages, $24.95 David Horowitz remembers the moment well. The author of Radical Son, fresh off his political conversion, was having dinner with his family one night, explaining why he had become a conservative — and why they should, too. At that point, he admits, he … Read more
Over on her blog, the Anchoress highlighted Pope Benedicts’s spontaneous remarks from Mass today, where he spoke about the need for penance and the reality of eternal life. (She quoted excerpts carried by Whispers in the Loggia; the full text has not yet been translated and released.) We’ll see what the press does with the … Read more
To rebuild the trust of U.S. Catholics in the Church and its leaders and to make reparations to the victims left in the wake of this scandal, the bishops need to address several points: 1. The bishops should make clear that this is a crisis and that they are not conducting business as usual. Powerful … Read more
Oh goody. A new book has been released about the Really Real Jesus, written by Paul Verhoeven, director of such classics as Showgirls, Starship Troopers, and Robocop. Naturally, it is a scholarly work, and will serve as a springboard for a movie version — directed by Paul Verhoeven: In an interview with MTV, the Dutch … Read more
According to Kenneth Vogel at Politico, the fundraising powerhouse Tea Party Express may actually be a front for a Republican PAC. While others have said as much, the point was reinforced when Politico obtained an internal proposal from GOP media firm Russo Marsh & Rogers — the operation behind the “Express” — that appears to … Read more
On Good Friday, I received this e-mail from a reader in France: Your article about the shroud of Turin makes me almost hysteric, I was almost dying of laughter. Thank you for this high piece of burlesque. Nowadays, everyone and his dog knows that the shroud was created in 1347, simply in applying the shroud … Read more
On April 14, 1906, some clever San Franciscan strapped a movie camera to the front platform of a cable car, and recorded the vehicle’s slow climb up Market Street. The footage is remarkable — one commenter wrote that watching the film is like looking through the window of a time machine. But it’s even more … Read more
Maybe I have a sick sense of humor, but I got a laugh out of this one: According to the UK’s Telegraph, a desperate man in Sweden called a suicide crisis hotline to get some help. The Lutheran priest on the other end fell asleep and began snoring while the poor guy was talking. Happily, … Read more