A friend in a nursing home left me this phone message at the beginning of Holy Week: “God came to us and we murdered Him, tortured Him to death, spat on Him. And now, all He asks of us is that we let Him forgive us. Some people won’t even do that. Isn’t that amazing? … Read more
Our friend John Barger, publisher of Sophia Press, asked me to let InsideCatholic.com readers know he is giving away free books! Click here for more information. I hope I don’t need to tell you that Sophia is one of the best Catholic publishers anywhere, and whether the books are free or not you should read … Read more
With the constant media barrage against the pope and the Church, we seem to be living our own Via Crucis this year. And even though I am celebrating Easter at home in Boston, I’m attuned to what is happening in Rome. Just before I left Rome last week, I offered the Vatican Radio commentary for Pope Benedict’s … Read more
Public art or public eyesore? The mayor of London — the host city for the 2012 Olympic games — has commissioned a tower for their Olympic Park meant to be their own “mini-Eiffel.” Some 400ft high – admittedly a little shy of the Paris landmark’s 1,063ft, but higher than the Statue of Liberty – the … Read more
The current issue of Our Sunday Visitor has a cover story on the new commission set up by the Vatican to investigate — and come to some conclusion over — the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje. The examination will fall under the authority of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — Pope Benedict’s former … Read more
It’s sad to watch the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, and others attack Pope Benedict XVI. The story they have spun over the last week about his supposed mishandling of the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Rev. Joseph Murphy is risibly tenuous. These once-great newspapers trivialize themselves by publishing front-page stories making obvious their … Read more
Neal McDonough is one of those actors who has appeared in so many movies and TV shows that his face is almost immediately recognizable to anyone that has watched their fair share of either in the past 10 years. Check out this Minority Report still, for example. He’s not Tom Cruise. And he’s not Colin Farrell. But I … Read more
To wrap up Lent in my class, “Finding the Face of God in the 20th Century,” I decided to concentrate students’ minds with a chorus of De Profundis. For two solid weeks, we have worked our way through literature of the Holocaust: Eli Wiesel, Victor Frankl, and convert Roy Schoeman. And the timing seems fitting: … Read more
Following up on Margaret’s morning post… John Allen, Jr., senior correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, senior Vatican analyst with CNN, and author of The Rise of Benedict XVI, answered questions yesterday at the Washington Post about the pope and the ongoing sex abuse crisis. It’s a short read and Allen is typically fair … Read more
Challenges to the New York Times piece on the abuse scandal in Milwaukee keep on coming, and they damage is piling up. The latest comes from a priest who directly oversaw the case against Father Lawrence Murphy, though he was never contacted by the Times for comment. Now, he says, he wants to set the … Read more
It is an honor, of sorts, to have one’s Lenten penances externally imposed, and the whole Church has shared in this honor this year. Led by an ignorant and malicious attack in the New York Times, the liberal media internationally have been doing everything in their power to pin something — anything — on Pope … Read more
Over the last year or so, I’ve discovered that one of the biggest problems with not blogging on something “as soon as the idea strikes me/while the iron is hot” is that I can’t always remember where I found the story in the first place. (Of course, I have trouble remembering what happened 5 minutes ago, … Read more
Hubble images: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1ivSpc/coolvibe.com/2009/100-epic-images-from-hubble-space-telescope/ Sistine Chapel: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1kpcQm/www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html
You’ll recall the law recently passed in Baltimore requiring crisis pregnancy centers to advertise that they don’t provide birth control or abortions (thanks to some prodding of the city council by Planned Parenthood). The archdiocese, however, isn’t taking the ruling lying down: Archbishop Edwin O’Brien announced yesterday that they are suing the city of Baltimore, … Read more
A new wrinkle has emerged in the beatification process for the late-John Paul II: The sudden healing of a French nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease may not have been a miracle at all. [A] Polish newspaper recently reported that doubts had been cast about whether the nun might not have had Parkinson’s at all. … Read more
Recently, one of my readers wrote me: Here is a thought I’ve come back to after a time. Understand that I come at this as someone who has a bit of detachment from the idea of “love one’s country,” etc.; not of disdain, or despite of fellow man, but as one who can look hard … Read more
Thanks to Margaret’s helpful reminder last week (and “aided” by the unexpected appearance of a fever that nearly wiped me out for the entire weekend), the boys and I were able to catch up on the first four episodes of Life – Challenges of Life, Reptiles and Amphibians, Mammals, and Fish – airing on The Discovery … Read more
The recent attacks on Pope Benedict and the Church have brought forth some excellent responses. First, over at National Review Online, Fr. Raymond J. de Souza says that the New York Times‘ Friday expose’ of the pope’s alleged intervention into a Milwaukee abuse case is undercut by the very evidence the reporters cite. The documents … Read more
A red array of metaphors can be read in the wounds Christ received on the cross. The wounds can stand for our suffering and its sources, for our sins, for our vulnerabilities. They can be the cruel divisions torn in the Body of Christ, the Church, by heresy and history. Here are five small thoughts … Read more
The apostolic visitation of the Legion of Christ was wrapped up this month, and the contents of the final report will be revealed in late April. Meanwhile, the organization has come forward with an official statement about their founder, Father Maciel, and the future of the order: We had thought and hoped that the accusations … Read more