A father who brought his son to Notre Dame went into the chapel of the residence hall and found a prayer card entitled “Toward a Spirit of Inclusivity at Notre Dame.” After six fairly straightforward paragraphs came this: “Because we welcome and value lesbian and gay members of our Notre Dame community, help us to … Read more
Catholic opponents of the death penalty sometimes seem to lose sight of the primary purpose of punishment. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (final text) says, “Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense.” If I commit a serious offense against society, I bring about a disorder, and the point … Read more
One gets more cheerful with age, but there is a dangerous period in late middle life when a negative mood can descend upon one. Most curmudgeons of my experience are hale and hearty in their 50s, but the eye they turn on the world is cold and the words that issue from their scarcely parted … Read more
Fr. Robert Spitzer, president of Gonzaga University in Spokane, recently vetoed an invitation to a representative of Planned Parenthood to speak on the campus of his Jesuit institution. The invitation had been issued by the Women’s Studies Club. Fr. Spitzer reasonably thought that welcoming to his campus a spokesman for the nation’s largest abortion provider … Read more
For almost two centuries, there have been ever more frequent reports of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. If one takes as a beginning point Mary’s appearance to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830—when the seer was presented with the miraculous medal, copies of which have been worn by millions since—one can trace a series of apparitions, … Read more
Shirley Hazzard has written a tasteful memoir of times she and her husband spent with Graham Greene, infrequent but over many decades, on the isle of Capri. All Greenekeepers are in her debt, not least because of the focused brevity of her book. Compared with the massive, multivolumed and dogged biography by Patrick Sherry, Greene … Read more
Those of us old enough to have voted for John Kennedy recall how exciting it was to watch the returns come in—and come in and come in. It was not until the following morning that his election as president was assured. And then the exhilarating realization set in: There would be a Catholic in the … Read more
In the decade of discussion that occurred between the appearance of Ex Corde Ecclesiae and the bishops’ resounding approval of it, one did not need particularly perceptive antennae to pick up the note of embarrassment on the part of those who sought to explain what a Catholic university is. It was as if they were … Read more
Dear Ralph, Although you did so subtly and in a manner that many readers may have missed, I congratulate you for drawing attention to the evil of kleptophobia. The stereotypes of the thief are so imbedded in our culture, that it is virtually impossible for us to overcome their influence. I remember vividly the day … Read more
Mr. Alnutt, captain of the African Queen, escaping down river with Rosie the spinster sister of a now-dead Methodist missionary, has cases of gin aboard. A scandalized Rosie watches him take his first drink. He continues on into oblivion. In the morning, he wakes to find Rosie pouring the gin into the river. And she … Read more
A small book recently appeared on the shelf reserved for the memoirs of flown nuns and former priests, this one by a man who was auxiliary bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, when he abandoned ship. Reluctant Dissenter by James P. Shannon is a book that tells a story far different from the one its author … Read more
When Liz Christman mentioned that she was reading Lucy Grayheart, I had to think a moment before I identified it as a Willa Cather novel. Liz went on about how much she was enjoying it and we all listened. No one else at our well-read table had read the novel. In a group made up … Read more
Whenever I hear Bach’s “Air on the G String” I am transported back to Quebec and the apartment in which we lived when I was completing my graduate studies. At night, after Connie had tended to the baby and gone to bed herself, I would sit at my desk, studying, smoking, listening to the radio. … Read more
This is about my dear friend, Jude Dougherty, who recently stepped down into eminence. I begin with an anecdote. Some years ago, at a meeting in Rome, Jude was called away to Castel Gondalfo for lunch with the pope. I saw him driven off in a car bearing Vatican plates and was waiting for him when … Read more
In 1962 John Steinbeck wrote Travels with Charley, the account of his journey across the country with his dog in a truck converted into a mobile home. Born in California, settled in Long Island, but having recently spent years in Europe, the writer wanted to reconnect with the source of his inspiration. Stevenson wrote Travels … Read more
This laconic statement in Psalm 36 does not, of course, express a choice of the psalmist. It is the realistic observation of a man lucky to have lived long enough to make it. We are the age we are whether we like it or not, but there are good and bad ways of accepting it. … Read more
I just received an excited e-mail from my youngest brother concerning his recent trip to Ireland where he discovered that our great, great grandfather, Austin Joseph, was baptized in Kilkee, a village in County Clare on the island’s western shores. Steve has put someone on the spoor of Austin Joseph with the hope that our … Read more
Talk of the culture war presupposes two sides, but after the apparent popular response to Bill Clinton’s degradation of the presidency it is difficult to go on thinking that there is any widespread resistance to the neo-pagan take-over. Of course, this may be one more illusion created by a media that reports approvingly on the … Read more
On the eve of the papal visit to St. Louis, the president of Notre Dame and the chancellor of Boston College published a challenge to John Paul II’s Apostolic constitution on the nature of the Catholic university, Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Since its appearance in 1990, there has been a ritual dance going on between Catholic … Read more
In her theological thriller, A Corner of the Veil, the French author Laurence Cossé explores the consequences of the discovery of a new proof for the existence of God. Of such simplicity and cogency is this proof that to read it is to be rid immediately of any doubt as to God’s existence. Of course, … Read more