“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” That’s how divorce starts for the Catholic couples I talked to: hard-core, confession-going, Humanae Vitae-believing Catholic couples. Couples who know exactly what marriage is supposed to be. One man I spoke with, now divorced, took Scott Hahn’s Christian marriage class with his theology-major fiancée. Another couple, now divorced, … Read more
Many commentators tried to implicate Christians in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando. But might it not be true that Western secularists have more in common with Isis than Christians? The two realities of Islamic extremism and Western consumerism are like shadowy doppelgangers showing up each other’s bankruptcy. Consider: I. ISIS and secularists … Read more
I don’t know if Lou Reed’s life illustrates the maxim that promiscuity is a misbegotten search for God. But his lyrics do. Reed’s lyrics were certainly promiscuous—and omnivorous—when it came to sex, as well as drugs and rock ’n’ roll. But they were also filled with spiritual seeking, which is why a Vatican official paid … Read more
The Great Gatsby (the book; I haven’t seen the movie yet) describes a particular kind of life that used to be the sole property of well-heeled WASPs. They were the privileged ones who came from all parts of the country to convene on The East—New York, Boston, New Haven. They could afford all the new … Read more
And so, the pope tweeted. What he said far less important than the fact that he tweeted — but what he said is nonetheless revealing. His tweet: “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” What is significant about this comes down to the … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Tom Hoopes reports on the link between abortion and breast cancer, and explains why mainstream medicine is ignoring the facts. Janet Gail was used to looking at mammograms and finding bad news. As a hospital technician in Pennsylvania, that was her job. But she was unprepared for what … Read more
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” That’s how divorce starts for the Catholic couples I talked to: hard-core, confession-going, Humanae Vitae-believing Catholic couples. Couples who know exactly what marriage is supposed to be. One man I spoke with, now divorced, took Scott Hahn’s Christian marriage class with his theology-major fiancée. Another couple, now divorced, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Tom Hoopes outlines four strategies for beating proponents of the Culture of Death at their own game. From the perspective of the Catholic Church, the culture war can look more like a culture siege — a one-sided contest pitting the attacking villains against a peace-loving Church. Or worse, … Read more
“The lunatic is on the grass.” It was an hour before midnight. Ten-year-old James was in his bedroom, alone, when he was suddenly gripped by terror. A Pink Floyd song rang out through the empty room. The radio turned on by itself. “The lunatic is on the grass. The lunatic is in the … Read more
At the turn of the last century, Mark Twain loved poking fun at the tidy religious stories that were told in his day, even as he produced his own versions. The stories led to a payoff that dealt a death-blow to wickedness and a cheery boost to saintliness, all neatly summed up in a secondary … Read more
Mark Belnick was a 50-year-old Wall Street lawyer living in wealthy Westchester County, New York, when Mother Angelica reached him in 1997. Belnick was so high up at Tyco International that when the courts began their aggressive targeting of corporate crime in recent years, he almost got caught in their net— while top executives of … Read more
On Pentecost, 1998, 300,000 members of the world’s apostolic movements filled the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square in Rome and spilled out down the Via della Conciliazione. There were Communion and Liberation members, whose philosophically exuberant approach to the Faith is like the jazz music they’re famous for promoting at a yearly festival: eclectic riffs … Read more
From the perspective of the Catholic Church, the culture war can look more like a culture siege—a one-sided contest pitting the attacking villains against a peace-loving Church. Or worse, sometimes it feels like the Church is hiding in a stained-glass bunker, dividing into factions and arguing about who is more orthodox while the attackers are … Read more
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” That’s how divorce starts for the Catholic couples I talked to hard-core, confession-going, Humanae Vitae-believing Catholic couple. Couples who know exactly what marriage is supposed to be. One man I spoke with, now divorced, took Scott Hahn’s Christian marriage class with his theology-major fiancée. Another couple, now divorced, … Read more
“The lunatic is on the grass. The lunatic is on the grass.” It was an hour before midnight. Ten-year-old James was in his bedroom, alone, when he was suddenly gripped by terror. A Pink Floyd song rang out through the empty room. The radio turned on by itself. “The lunatic is on the grass. The … Read more
Serrin Foster is bombing. All around the Temple University lecture hall, bored faces drift in and out of attention — expressionless college women staring and still, college men telegraphing their waning interest by twisting in their seats. A round woman’s tiny eyes glare coldly from beneath her eyebrow rings. I’ve been assigned to shadow Foster … Read more
Serrin Foster is bombing. All around the Temple University lecture hall, bored faces drift in and out of attention—expressionless college women staring and still, college men telegraphing their waning interest by twisting in their seats. A round woman’s tiny eyes glare coldly from beneath her eyebrow rings. I’ve been assigned to shadow Foster on her … Read more
It was a beautiful June evening in Madison, Connecticut, an upscale seaside town. An unseasonably cold wind coming off the Long Island Sound had stopped. So had the rain that fell earlier in the week. This was the kind of evening you go out in. Anne Bascom thought so. The two-year-old went for a walk, … Read more
Janet Gail was used to looking at mammograms and finding bad news. As a hospital technician in Pennsylvania, that was her job. But she was unprepared for what found in her own mammogram when she did a routine screening at age 42. “I immediately recognized a suspicious area on the films,” Gail—who asked that her … Read more
“I’m going to live with my daddy,” Ben Stewart said when he was eight. “Because there I have both a daddy and a mommy.” Stewart’s childhood was vastly different from most kids. He was constantly forced to choose between two homes: his mom’s, where his sister and mom’s female lover lived, and his dad’s, where … Read more