With all the pontification lately about the visitation of women’s religious orders, as well as the call in some corners for “more women in the Church” as a means to combat the sex-abuse scandal, Kathy Lopez of National Review Online has done a real service by speaking with an actual religious sister for her perspective … Read more
A few links to get things rolling this morning: The Church of the ‘Times’: Kenneth Woodward makes a convincing argument that the New York Times is “an institution with the soul of a church,” complete with its own secular magisterium. ‘An exercise in moral botox’: Mary Eberstadt eviscerates You Don’t Know Jack, HBO’s paean to … Read more
During the height of the sex-abuse scandal, how many parents wished they had the ear of their bishops — to express their frustration, to demand reform? One Belleville, IL, man did: David Spotanski was the chancellor to Bishop Wilton Gregory while the bishop was president of the USCCB, and a ten-page memo that he wrote … Read more
Bishop Slattery of Oklahoma was the principal celebrant of a pontifical mass at the national basilica in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, in honor of Benedict’s fifth anniversary as pope. His homily on suffering from that mass has been making the rounds; if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, take a minute … Read more
A New York Times story today sheds more positive light on Benedict’s track record against abuse than we’ve seen in that paper of late. The article describes how then-Cardinal Ratzinger attempts to investigate abuse allegations made against an Austrian cardinal were often stymied by political factors inside the Vatican: In 1995, a victim came forward, … Read more
Press for the pope’s September visit to England gets worse all the time. First, it was Richard Dawkins et al. calling for Benedict’s arrest upon his arrival in the country; now, an embarrassing Foreign Office memo has come to light that sarcastically suggests the pope “be asked to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay … Read more
To all those readers who love a good book sale: Just got a heads up from our friend John Barger over at Sophia Press about a great deal they have going on — but only until midnight tonight: Early last month, we received a loan to get back into print almost 40 of the excellent Catholic … Read more
Time for your Friday morning link round-up: Candidate Obama promised greater government transparency, but has he delivered as president? Sharon Theimer at the Huffington Post doesn’t think so. NASA celebrates Hubble’s 20th anniversary by releasing some stunning new pictures from the telescope. Woody Allen’s atheism: In an interview with Commonweal magazine, Allen talks frankly about … Read more
In his General Audience today, Pope Benedict addressed the sex-abuse scandal publicly for the first time since his March 20 letter to the Irish bishops: Pope Benedict XVI promised Wednesday that the Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting … Read more
…you begin to understand where that whole “God of Thunder” thing came from. Be very afraid. More at the Boston Globe.
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
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
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
This is a neat story: The remains of a soldier killed at Pearl Harbor are finally going home after having been unidentifiable for 68 years. The family was able to help experts positively identify the body by providing a DNA sample for comparison . . . from the letters he had mailed home to his … Read more
Mark Chaves of the National Congregations Study has put together an interesting graph demonstrating the ways that different religious groups engage in politics. The numbers may surprise you. Chaves breaks down the results: First, notwithstanding extensive media coverage of political mobilization within conservative churches, conservative white Protestant churches do not stand out in their level … Read more
Ross Douthat’s column in this Sunday’s New York Times is definitely a thought-provoking one. He notes that, whereas Pope Benedict is repeatedly pummeled by the press, John Paul II was generally well-liked, or at least respected — but that doesn’t mean that he was necessarily the better pope: The last pope was a great man, … Read more
A few links for your Friday morning: The sole Protestant member of the Supreme Court may soon be stepping down, which raises the question: Does the religious make-up of the Court make a difference? Despite modern families’ feeling busier than ever before, a recent study shows that parents are actually spending more one-on-one time with … Read more
Over on the Touchstone blog, Russell Moore has an interesting post about “Cremation and a New Kind of Christianity.” Citing Diarmaid MacCulloch’s new book, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Moore notes that one of the greatest cultural shifts in the Church over the last century has been the overwhelming acceptance of cremation, when from its very … Read more
A historian at the Italian Montevergine monastery says that Adolf Hitler’s interest in religious artifacts apparently extended to the Shroud of Turin: Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler hatched a plot to steal the Shroud of Turin but was thwarted by a handful of plucky Benedictine monks, it was reported today. Hitler dispatched aides to swipe the … Read more
…Jose Gomez of San Antonio, TX. He will be announced as LA’s coadjutor bishop at a press conference this morning, meaning he will take control of the archdiocese when Cardinal Mahony reaches retirement age next year. The speculation over this appointment has been heated, and it’s groundbreaking in a number of ways. Whispers in the … Read more