A few days ago, as everyone on social media knows, the American gymnast Simone Biles, a truly spectacular athlete, removed herself from her team at the Olympics because she could no longer trust her sense of her body as it must spin and somersault in the air and plunge to the floor. Divers have been … Read more
Harsha Walia, a month after she called for Catholic churches to be burned “down,” resigned from her post as executive director of a Canadian civil rights group after a public outcry. She sparked an online fury in calling for violence against Catholic churches stating “Burn it all down.” Nonetheless, her approval of violence was not … Read more
Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes has perplexed (or even shaken the faith of) many Catholics who find refuge in the sacred tradition preserved by the old Mass. Perhaps some souls are motivated by the nostalgia that Pope Francis has cited. But surely something deeper than romanticism motivates young families to endure inconvenience for the … Read more
Let us be honest with ourselves—we are angry. A cursory review of social media substantiates this. There is a limitless list of reasons why we are angry. We can point to COVID-19, economic hardship, politics, Church scandals, and theological grievances. We might be angry over less big-picture concerns, including strife among family members, friends, and … Read more
After being laicized by the Vatican in 2019 for allegations of decades of sexual abuse, 91-year-old Theodore E. McCarrick, the now infamous former Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, D.C., has been criminally charged with abusing a teenage boy nearly fifty years ago in Massachusetts. He faces three counts of indecent assault and battery on a minor. … Read more
“If there were only three like you in France, I would not be able to set foot there,” said Satan to a future saint serving as a parish priest. St. John Vianney (1786-1859), also known as the Curé of Ars, is the patron saint of parish priests, and his deep sanctity sheds light on what … Read more
Perhaps it’s only natural in today’s polarized world to witness a gymnast who decided to stop competing igniting massive controversy across the political spectrum. Though, to be fair, the gymnast happens to be Simone Biles, one of the greatest in the history of the sport, and the competition she decided to quit was the Olympics. … Read more
“Get married and start a family.” Sage advice given to the next generation of young conservatives at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s conference, held this past weekend in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s about time the emerging new Right of the conservative movement got its priorities straight. If anything, something as timeless and as necessary as this should … Read more
In the first-ever papal sermon, St. Peter ended his exhortation by urging his Jewish audience to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). It was the first of countless invitations … Read more
When the maid screamed, it only took seconds for 23-year-old Pier Giorgio Frassati to come to her defense. He quickly discovered that a group of Fascists had forced their way into the house to vandalize it. While some started to break furniture, another attempted to cut the telephone wires. “I threw myself at that scoundrel … Read more
There are two ways of reading Romeo and Juliet, one of which is correct, in the sense that it is the way that Shakespeare meant it to be read and understood, and the other is incorrect, in the sense that it violates and perverts Shakespeare’s intentions. The incorrect way of reading the play, which is … Read more
The day after the incursion into the U.S. Capitol, I wrote in these pages that the events that day were not part of my conservative movement. Breaking into a federal building and fighting with police is not something that our set does. I was, and I remain, appalled at what I saw. I remain convinced … Read more
The saddest line in all of Western literature is at the end of Thomas Malory’s Le Mort d’Arthur. The divinely blessed Round Table has been destroyed, betrayed and sabotaged by the very knights who had been charged with its protection. King Arthur has been utterly defeated by jealous, power hungry hordes whipped into fury by … Read more
While there have been some notable attempts to help us understand the rationale behind the most recent motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, the published reflection on the document by Italian Professor Massimo Viglione stands out because it is the only one that recognizes the sin of envy that is driving this latest papal attempt to destroy … Read more
Earlier this year, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) joined with the Vatican COVID-19 Commission and the Strategic Concept for the Removal of Arms and Proliferation (SCRAP) of the SOAS University of London to co-host a webinar entitled “Advancing Integral Disarmament in Times of Pandemic.” The goal of this conference was to … Read more
As a sex abuse victims’ advocate and a former Catholic seminary instructor and formator, I am led to question the validity of arguments put forward by Rev. James Martin, SJ, Steven P. Millies, and others in defense of Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill. For example, in response to Burrill’s resignation as the now-former General Secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic … Read more
The ability to immigrate is increasingly seen as a human right. There is a growing belief that nations should not restrict the migration of people across borders but should embrace or even facilitate this movement, regardless of the costs or benefits. This belief is not, nor has it ever been, held by most Americans. But … Read more
Suppose you were watching a recent edition of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News with your 12-year-old son or daughter. Laura Ingraham and Raymond Arroyo were discussing President Biden’s incoherent responses to questions posed to him during a CNN Townhall event. Here’s a transcript of one Biden reply from a video clip played by Ingraham: … Read more
Dorothy Day—who died in 1980 and was declared a Servant of God in 2012—was widely hailed as a great hero of the Catholic Left, even as her fierce orthodoxy baffled and embarrassed liberal Catholics everywhere. Yet it was Miss Day, this icon of Catholic progressivism, who famously said, “If the Cardinal ordered me to stop … Read more
The traditional Latin Mass seems to be on every Catholic’s mind right now, up to and including the pope’s. The recent motu proprio Traditionis Custodes restricting the celebration of the TLM has brought the topic to the forefront. Importantly, the pope’s actions presume the TLM is growing in adherents and influence in the Church. After … Read more