What movies best represent the seven virtues and the theological gifts? The Regina Coeli Academy in Philadelphia is putting together a list of recommended films for students. One of the founders, Barbara Henkels, asked me to put the word out for some recommendations, which I am delighted to do. Here is my preliminary list for the virtues: … Read more
What Movies Best Exemplify the Seven Virtues?
What movies best represent the seven virtues and the theological gifts? The Regina Coeli Academy in Philadelphia is putting together a list of recommended films for students. One of the founders, Barbara Henkels, asked me to put the word out for some recommendations, which I am delighted to do. Here is my preliminary list for the virtues: … Read more
The Ongoing Saga of the Priest Sex-Abuse Scandal
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
Seven Ways the Bishops Should Respond to Sex Abuse
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
I’ve been an ardent and loyal fan of Tiger Woods since the beginning of his historic career. I’ve defended many of his outbursts as behavior he would one day leave behind. Well, if he were going to leave it behind, it would have been at the 2010 Masters, where he returned to golf after a … Read more
I’ve been an ardent and loyal fan of Tiger Woods since the beginning of his historic career. I’ve defended many of his outbursts as behavior he would one day leave behind. Well, if he were going to leave it behind, it would have been at the 2010 Masters, where he returned to golf after a … Read more
Come Back, Tiger, When You Grow Up!
I’ve been an ardent and loyal fan of Tiger Woods since the beginning of his historic career. I’ve defended many of his outbursts as behavior he would one day leave behind. Well, if he were going to leave it behind, it would have been at the 2010 Masters, where he returned to golf after a … Read more
Michael Sean Winters In Defense of Benedict XVI
My sometimes sparring partner at America, Michael Sean Winters, has an excellent post on the latest attack against Benedict XVI. Here are the opening two paragraphs, the rest being well worth reading since Winters takes a close look at the documents purported to prove the Holy Father guilty of a “cover-up”: The whole world now … Read more
Too Many Catholics on the Supreme Court?
With the upcoming retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, the media have once again started counting the number of Catholics on the Supreme Court. A recent headline in the New York Times announced, “Stevens, the Only Protestant on the Supreme Court.” Well, so what? The Times article notes that Stevens’ retirement raises the possibility that … Read more
Sr. Anita Baird Apologizes for Defending Obama
The day after she defended Obama as “pro-choice,” as opposed to “pro-abortion,” Sr. Anita Baird, an employee of the Archdiocese of Chicago, apologized for the remark. The relevant portion of the apology is found at LifeSiteNews: “In order to clarify my quote that appeared on LifeSiteNews.com, I am affirming my belief in the teachings of … Read more
I’ve been accused of being absent-minded, and it is true. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t commit some egregious slip of the mind. Here are some of the most recent: –Going on a car trip without my driver’s license and credit cards. –Leaving the car running in the driveway after I go into … Read more
Confessions of An Absent-Minded Blogger
I’ve been accused of being absent-minded, and it is true. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t commit some egregious slip of the mind. Here are some of the most recent: –Going on a car trip without my driver’s license and credit cards. –Leaving the car running in the driveway after I go into … Read more
Archdiocese of Chicago’s Sr. Baird Defends Obama as Pro-Choice
Sr. Anita Baird is the founder of the Office of Racial Justice at the Archdiocese of Chicago. Sr. Baird was interviewed yesterday by Kathleen Gilbert for LifeSiteNews about the upcoming event honoring Fr. Michael Pfleger, a diocesan priest in Chicago who worked for the Obama campaign. Fr. Pfleger became infamous outside of Chicago for saying publicly … Read more
Are the Bishops ‘Advancing the Republican Agenda’?
Regular readers may be taken aback by the question, but I ask it seriously. In fact, I am repeating a question put to Francis Cardinal George by a reporter for the Catholic News Service. A March 23 story from CNS, written by Nancy Frazier O’Brien, featured an exchange with Cardinal George, president of the U.S. … Read more
“Love Bade Me Welcome” a poem by George Herbert was set to music by Ralph Vaughn Williams as part of his “Five Mystical Songs” (1906-11). Both the poem and the song have the power to convert. The poem had a profound effect on the Jewish philosopher/mystic Simone Weil. The song has, more times than I can recall, … Read more
On Easter We Can Sing A Song About Love
“Love Bade Me Welcome” a poem by George Herbert was set to music by Ralph Vaughn Williams as part of his “Five Mystical Songs” (1906-11). Both the poem and the song have the power to convert. The poem had a profound effect on the Jewish philosopher/mystic Simone Weil. The song has, more times than I can recall, … Read more
Sophia Press Giving Away Free Books!
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
Why Do the Media Hate the Church?
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
Why Catholics Should Work to Repeal the Health Care Bill
There are only two facts Catholics need to know about the health-care bill to decide it must be repealed: The bill signed by the president includes federal funding for abortion, and the executive order does nothing to remove that funding. You don’t have to accept those facts on my authority — they have both … Read more
Father Groeschel Reflects on the Health-Care Vote
Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with Rev. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., on the phone from his Trinity Retreat Center in Larchmont, New York. Father Groeschel is recovering from a nasty cold, and we were speaking about other matters, but I couldn’t resist keeping him on the phone long enough to hear his thoughts on the health-care vote. … Read more