The Obama administration has found the policy equivalent of alchemy. Employees of religious organizations will receive contraception coverage. And neither the individuals nor the groups will have to pay for it. It’s magic. Otherwise known as making the insurer pay. On Friday, February 1, the Department of Health and Human Services announced its new rule … Read more
There was surely never any chance that the Obama Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could revise its current birth prevention mandate in a way that would be acceptable to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The stated purpose of this HHS mandate all along has been to provide universal coverage at … Read more
Pope Benedict XVI has designated 2013 the Year of Faith and this is, no doubt, because we need it. Our faith’s supreme object is, of course, Jesus Christ, and the constant contemplation of his glory will not only sustain our faith as we mourn this Culture of Death, endure the assaults on religious freedom, and … Read more
Just before reaching the imposing, stainless steel structure of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, one finds a simple stone and glass building situated on a nearby hill. It is the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel: a place of grace. Each of the ten large glass panes that form the actual walls … Read more
What God knows is not necessarily what God wills. Each pope is guaranteed the protection of the Holy Spirit from fallible definitions of faith and morals, but to suppose that each pope is there because God wants him there, including the unworthy successors of Peter, comes close to the unforgivable blasphemy against the Third Person … Read more
The Body of Christ is in critical condition. The “two lungs” of the Church—the East and West, the Orthodox and Catholics—have largely failed to draw breath together since the Great Schism in 1054. Similar to an autoimmune disease, one body has fought itself. It is time, as Blessed John Paul II states in his encyclical, … Read more
One of the many lasting legacies of the papacy of Benedict XVI concerns liturgical music. Enormous progress has been made in his papacy. Incredibly this progress has happened without new legislation, new restrictions, new mandates, or firm-handed attempts to impose discipline on musicians and artists. The change has happened through the means that Benedict XVI … Read more
To many, Pope Benedict XVI is a radical: an old man clothed in capes, incurably fixed on forgotten principles of a forgotten world—principles that no longer apply to the “real world.” To others, Pope Benedict XVI is radical: a wise man clothed in Christ, inspiringly fixed on the roots, radix, of the world—principles that fundamentally … Read more
The Catholic world is largely shocked by the publication of Pope Benedict XVI’s letter of resignation this morning. The secular world assumes the worst—no, it desires the worst, and by insinuation worms doubts into the minds of even the faithful. The secular world will tear through the brief letter and fixate upon the line about … Read more
In shocking news that quickly demonstrated the ongoing relevance of medieval historians, Pope Benedict announced that he will lay down his governance of the Church of Rome at the end of this month. Such an event has not happened for nearly 600 years when his predecessor, Gregory XII, sacrificed himself in 1415 to bring an … Read more
Aristotle, that common sense fellow, defined justice as giving to each his due. That definition admits of equality in inequality, in obvious ways. The indulgence we allow a child we deny to a grown man; the familiarity with which we treat the paperboy might offend the elderly woman in church. Each person is equally deserving … Read more
For more than a year, Americans have been lauding or protesting the HHS mandate that requires employers to cover contraceptives, including abortifacients, in their insurance policies. Since many employers don’t object to such a policy, the debate has focused on Catholic employers, who have a moral objection to contraception, and therefore to any requirement that … Read more
Shortly before the first Gothic arches of Paris began bearing the weight of their spires, a young man arrived in Paris. His origins are unknown to us now, but his destination was clear: he had come to join the new religious community at the Abbey of St. Victor, just outside the walls of medieval Paris.He … Read more
Capital punishment does not inspire roaring humor in healthy minds, so wit on the subject tends to be sardonic. Two of the most famous examples, of course, are: “In this country it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others,” and “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows … Read more
How should a conservative interact with popular culture? We live in a time when popular music mocks religion, prime time television depicts homosexual relations and multi-generational groupings as “the new normal,” films depict literal orgies of gory sadism, and all promote narcissistic nihilism with a snarky self-confidence expressed in gutter language. How should we respond … Read more
One of the funniest men who ever lived, W.C. Fields, whose mask of comic malevolence will live forever, was asked once if he liked children. He replied instantly: “I like children—fried.” His view of dogs and women was scarcely any better. Women he regarded rather as elephants: “I like to look at ‘em, but I … Read more
“Our Town is not offered as a picture of life in a New Hampshire village; or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death (that element I merely took from Dante’s Purgatory). It is an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life.” So wrote … Read more
This book is not for you… unless you prepare yourself to be initiated into its mysteries through baptism—a Baptism by Beer. This is the shriving of Sherwood, the grace of the Greenwood, the ritual of Robin Hood. If you think this a sacrilege, good fellow, look to thyself. You may discover one “who so plod(s) … Read more
At the end of part eight in this series, I observed that Pope Leo XIII lays a heavy obligation upon the rich. What is that obligation? Who are the rich? Like Thomas Aquinas, whom he admired so well, Leo is quite practical. It is right for a man to provide for his family so that … Read more
Editor’s note: The same-sex marriage bill promoted by Tory Prime Minister David Cameron passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday despite sizable defections from his own party. The bill still needs to be approved by the House of Lords before it becomes law. It is now becoming clear that marriage, more than Europe or … Read more