Arthur Koestler is most famous for his Darkness at Noon, a book written in 1939 whose subject was the Stalin show trials of the thirties, when the Dictatorship of the Proletariat was exposed as the tyranny of a very bad man. Koestler wrote many other books, however, and one that I just read, Arrow in … Read more
Early in the 2016 presidential primary season, I declared that I would never vote for Donald Trump. Even though I wouldn’t ever consider Hillary (I’m Catholic, after all), I could not bring myself to vote for the GOP nominee, either. So, I voted third-party, and for three reasons. First, I considered Mr. Trump a wild … Read more
Today is the feast of the Blessed Emperor, Charles I of Austria-Hungary. The release of my new biography of the saintly monarch last month have for obvious reasons brought him to my mind in recent days. Added to this is the impending dedication of the 16th shrine in his honor in these United States, at … Read more
“I am not the Catholic candidate for president,” John F. Kennedy famously declared. (At least he was honest.) Throughout the 1960 election, JFK struggled to overcome the old Know-Nothing myth that, were the United States to put an Irish Catholic in the White House, he would have a direct telephone line to the Holy See. … Read more
“Day to day pours forth speech,” we read in the Psalms; and so it does. Having read the news these past few mornings, and listened to some of the broadcasts, I’ve since been preoccupied by two questions. The first concerns Hillary Clinton: Why is the lady not in jail, or at least in the dock? … Read more
Remember the “Occupy Wall Street” movement? Theirs was a protest against “the One Percent.” However, the One Percenters begged to differ. They have responded with a revolution of their own, a revolution from above, the one currently under way in the United States. The objective of the revolution is to ensconce and enhance the power … Read more
I once had the unenviable task of explaining to Thomas Howard what the alt-right is. “They’re white nationalists,” I said, “but they also oppose the ascent of libertarians in the Republican Party.” “I see.” He nodded. “And what’s a libertarian?” That one I couldn’t bring myself to explain. It would be an honor to say … Read more
“Thank you for your testimony.” With these words, Pope Francis greeted Cardinal George Pell who, on coming out of Covid-19 quarantine, went to meet the Pope in audience. Martyr in the Greek language means “witness” or “testimony.” In essence it is the basic call of every Christian, every follower of Jesus Christ, to give testimony … Read more
Pope John Paul II once said that, “In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences.” That is one way to explain why a Polish pope, dedicated above all to defending the dignity of the human person, would step onto the world stage just as the most powerful country on earth was about to … Read more
According to devotees of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personality cult, the ideal Supreme Court Justice is many things. She’s well-educated and professionally successful. She’s articulate. She possesses gravitas. She balances career and family. She cares for the vulnerable. Yet Democratic senators and progressive pundits insist that Amy Coney Barrett is definitely not that woman. But, eager … Read more
“We are victims of our century,” wrote one of the Carmelites of Compiègne before going to the guillotine in 1794, “and we must sacrifice ourselves that it be reconciled to God.” Attacks on Catholic churches, anti-Christian elites, and suffocating political correctness—the eighteenth century witnessed cultural conflict every bit as intense as our own today. Yet … Read more
In my last article, I wrote that I would soon cast a vote against the party that promises to persecute the Church, and to subjugate all her schools, colleges, and beneficent organizations to an ideology that is fundamentally inhuman. I said also that that was no ringing endorsement for the other party. Several readers accused … Read more
At last. On the first day of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican senators stood up to the anti-religious bigotry of their Democratic colleagues over the disgraceful treatment of Judge Barrett’s Catholic faith. One of the greatest highlights was Senator Josh Hawley’s impassioned opening statement against the blatant anti-Catholic bigotry … Read more
Imagine an NBA basketball court emblazoned with the slogan “Unborn Lives Matter.” Imagine the NFL sponsoring “Our First Freedom Month,” celebrating religious liberty (or even just imagine players standing for the national anthem). Imagine state legislatures restoring all the statues and monuments vandalized in 2020—including statues of Christopher Columbus, who was easily the most frequently … Read more
Of all the sordid figures of the American “New Left,” few strike the interest of Catholics quite like Saul Alinsky. This is no doubt because of Alinsky’s rather curious Catholic connections in and around Chicago in the 1960s. Many of them disturbing, given how often he collaborated with senior Church officials. It says as much … Read more
Bishop Heinz-Josef Algermissen recently published a letter claiming that, during an October 7 meeting with Pope Francis, the Holy Father expressed “dramatic concern” with the state of the German Church. As well he might. Francis has always been wary of the German bishops’ synodal journey, which is being convened to discuss “authority and separation of … Read more
The priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which every Christian priest shares, is the source of holiness in the Church and the impetus for all evangelization. Through the ministry of the priest, Christ’s lay faithful are nourished with the Word of Life and the Bread of Life; their sanctification makes possible the sanctification of the world. … Read more
In a mid-September webinar on “The Church and Catholic Voters in the 2020 Election,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, weighed in on a question often asked these days: Can a Catholic vote for Joe Biden? Cardinal Tobin, long a stalwart of the U.S. Church’s liberal wing, dissented from the reigning consensus. “I think … Read more
“Days of Rage,” which has characterized the extended riots in Seattle and in other American cities, was borrowed from the riots of the late sixties conducted by the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and its faction, The Weathermen. Why the rage? Many of the radicals in both instances came from affluent families. And why … Read more
As our readers must know, Amy Coney Barrett, whom President Trump has nominated for a position on the Supreme Court, was a long-time member of a charismatic and ecumenical Christian group called People of Praise. The women in the group are called handmaids, after the world-changing fiat of Mary: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be … Read more