Last week, The New York Times published a blistering attack on the Dominicans of the Saint Joseph’s Province for their supposed laxity in investigating abuse charges against one of their priests. (Full Disclosure: I served for a time on the Dominican Foundation Board of Directors.) The Dominicans have cried foul. And, indeed, there are several … Read more
Today there is a sacred, orthodox Catholic Church, and there is a mundane or secular Catholic church. Today’s secularized Catholic “church” is not precisely a parallel, nor is it an ersatz, religious institution. This secular church is a profane perversion, a sacrilegious caricature, attempting not just to substitute for Christ’s Church but to hallow pan-sexualism, … Read more
There are many different kinds of bishops. The basically good bishops lead morally upright lives, are faithful to the magisterium, and are dedicated to service. There are numerous varieties of bad bishops: those sexually active with females or males; those who cover up for priests who engage in immoral behavior; those living luxurious lives and … Read more
It’s a dark time for faithful Catholics in America. The president declares himself a “devout” Catholic, but his policies openly defy the moral teachings of the Church. The vice-president is an ardent anti-Catholic who has shown a taste for authoritarianism. But what’s happening in the nation’s capital is only a disturbing reflection of our broader … Read more
For a universal re-establishment of the Minor Orders according to the perennis sensus of the lex orandi of the Church. Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the following principle, perennially valid in the life of the Church since apostolic times: “In the history of the Liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture” (Letter to the … Read more
As I walked through the busy Stuff-Mart, I felt an increasing sense of isolation and the faint stirrings of panic. It had been only two weeks since the governor’s mask mandate was ordered and I was not adapting well. My husband chatted with me while we shopped but his words sounded like muffled gibberish from … Read more
Last week, many small investors made a fortune from their investments in GameStop, a video game retailer that—by most accounts—is becoming obsolete. Due to a collective enthusiasm generated in the subreddit community r/wallstreetbets, GameStop shares went from below $3 to over $300 in less than a year. Because of the success of GameStop, investors are … Read more
It is not likely that anyone will have heard of Heywood Broun, but he was a once very well known, well-connected newspaper columnist. His take on the world was fairly cynical, especially on the subject of organized religion, which he held in some contempt. But everyone will have heard of Fulton Sheen, the world’s first … Read more
I have to admit many prejudices. I don’t usually read anything recommended by Father James Martin, SJ. I usually avoid the National Catholic Reporter, as forever burned in my memory from one of their articles—by the redoubtable Rosemary Radford Ruether—is the most fatuous line I have ever read: “The recent election of Joseph Ratzinger as … Read more
After decades of playing its own executioner, perhaps it has come to this for the generally infertile American Catholic education system: it will be only the finger of God working through heroes that will come to the rescue of its lost children. As we enter “Celebrate Catholic Schools Week,” it would be good to find … Read more
After 46 years of tens of thousands marching in Washington, D. C. to peacefully protest the national legalization of child murder, the March for Life has been canceled and converted into a virtual affair for 2021. Of course, there is nothing surprising in this, but is there something disappointing? For some, the March for Life … Read more
As I write this, the elite who’s-who of the world are meeting virtually, as part of the Davos Forum 2021 held by the World Economic Forum. For the uninitiated, the event is essentially a gathering of major world figures—heads of state, financiers, medical professionals, etc.—who meet to discuss global plans. It is not clear if … Read more
Sometimes I think that a people more starved for beauty has never walked the earth. And it is a scandal that our Church does not help. We talk, for example, about “the planet,” but not about woods, hedgerows, small streams, sparrows, badgers, rocks, and moors. The poet Wordsworth could sense, in his memories of the … Read more
The new Biden administration can disrupt the second Cold War by disengaging Russia from China. First, a mea culpa. Heck, mea maxima culpa. I apologize for the current state of relations between the United States and Communist China. I am guilty of an offense that occurred maybe 50 years ago. As a young know-it-all with … Read more
We are currently witnessing the greatest catechetical crisis in the history of the Church. In 2018, Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) to change its teaching on the death penalty—a controversy that continues to be challenged by cardinals, bishops, priests, and theologians around the world. But that was just the beginning. … Read more
The assault against Western culture and civilization is moving full steam ahead. Even our most long-standing and cherished of writers, Homer, is being banned. The usual gobbledygook critiques are thrown out at him: sexist, toxic masculinity, and white male! Such rage, oh the irony, completely misses the real majesty and endurance of Homer. In a … Read more
“Bullies” are the modern-day boogeymen. Lurking around every corner ready to pounce on their prey, they live to inflict psychological harm on their victims. They demand blind obedience to their views, eliminating anyone who opposes their reign. Bullies apparently dominate our school yards, workplaces, and of course social media. According to the mainstream narrative, within … Read more
Human beings do not flourish in isolation. Politics, racial tensions, and a host of other social maladies have been the ostensible reason for riots and chaos in this past year. However, dismissing the deleterious effects of social distancing, enforced isolation, and long quarantines on the human psyche seems blind at best—and dangerously foolish at worst—in … Read more
In a recent article for Crisis, Father Dwight Longenecker voiced his frustration with trying to unify his parish in the midst of what seems like national disintegration. He is right to be concerned, because as the Church goes, so goes the nation (and the world). The odd thing is that the Church had, in her … Read more
Philip Dick wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1968, but the novel is set in January 2021. The movie Blade Runner was based on some of the concepts in the novel, but the book’s plot is different and its themes more complex. One of the key themes of the novel is the human … Read more