On Sunday, as he baptized 21 infants in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged parents to give their children Christian names. He said this was “an unequivocal sign that the Holy Spirit gives a rebirth to people in the womb of the Church.” The Italian media then warned parents about not using names from … Read more
Years ago, when Russell Kirk wrote The Conservative Mind, he defined the towering problem of our time as “the problem of community lost and community regained.” It is natural that we crave community, which is the union we have with others through common affection and spiritual and practical interest. To desire community, especially the primary … Read more
In today’s Los Angeles Times, Skeptic editor Michael Shermer brings some sanity to coverage of both the shootings in Tuscon and the well-reported fish and bird deaths around the country: We live in a causal universe, so all effects do have causes, but before we turn to grand, overarching causal theories such as political rhetoric or … Read more
Pope Benedict addressed a gathering of diplomats to the Holy See yesterday, urging them to encourage religious freedom in their home countries: The Pope asked the representatives of 178 countries, as well as of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the European Community and the Knights of Malta, to examine how well their own countries respected the … Read more
I was pretty swamped this past week, so I missed Joseph Susanka’s Patheos column on Yojiro Takita’s Oscar-winning 2008 film, Departures. If you haven’t seen the movie, Joseph’s column will make you regret your sad mistake. It tells the story of young Daigo Kobayashi, an aspiring concert cellist, who finds himself forced to return to … Read more
Some time back, a reader wrote me with an interesting observation: You know, I just thought of something. I used to have a part-time job as a pest caller (phone surveys, mostly) and so I met a lot of Wiccans. (In the 90’s they congregated in phone & restaurant work, for some reason; don’t know … Read more
The oft-cited phrase “knowledge is power” seems to be from Francis Bacon. One might turn the phrase around — “power is knowledge” — but that does not seem so obvious to us. Nor, if we think about it, is the original quite as innocent as it sounds: The most dangerous thing that can happen to … Read more
The shooting in Tucson over the weekend that has left six people dead, including a small child, and several others fighting for their lives is the kind of thing that can make you lose faith in humanity. Almost as discouraging has been the rush in some quarters to assign blame to various political groups for … Read more
A government study shows that fluoride levels in water and common dental hygiene products are too high. Two out of five adolescents have tooth streaking or spottiness due to excessive fluoride, and in some cases teeth can become pitted. One study mentioned in the Los Angeles Times found that prolonged exposure to fluoride “can increase … Read more
In my column last week, I asked the question, “Does the USCCB understand subsidiarity?” I received a variety of responses to that piece, the most interesting being from Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian, who posted his thoughts on the website of the Archdiocese of Washington. Writing in a judicious and even-handed way … Read more
My kids really love the full-color Manga Messiah series. There’s the original book; about the life of Jesus; Manga Metamorphosis (about Acts of the Apostles); Manga Mutiny (about Genesis and Exodus); and Manga Melech (from Joshua to King David). They’re all on Amazon.com for about $10 each. My kids read and re-read these to the … Read more
There’s been a bit of a dust-up over the “silence” of the USCCB on the repeal of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy for the U.S. armed forces. Cardinal Wuerl’s comment, however, was right on the mark, in my opinion. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC stated last month on Fox News Sunday that “there … Read more
Ecstatic dancers whirl around a woodland bonfire. Spells are cast in suburban living rooms. A pentagram-wearing priestess wanders through an interfaith festival. Today, witches can be as near as next door — and in the public square as well. Wicca is a conspicuous part of a burgeoning pagan revival in the Western world. Although hard … Read more
My husband and I were recently inspired to pack ourselves, our eight kids, and 13,000 Capri Sun juice boxes into our twelve-passenger van and drive more than 1,500 miles to spend Christmas in south Florida. It was epic — if by epic you mean a wildly memorable trip that was “so perfectly worth doing” but also … Read more
CBS reports that almost 40 percent of pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion in 2009, according to the city’s health department. Out of 225,667 recorded pregnancies there were 126,774 live births and 87,273 abortions. Archbishop Timothy Dolan joined with other religious leaders yesterday calling for efforts to make abortions “rare:” “I re-affirm Cardinal … Read more
Now this is encouraging: Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had a been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the … Read more
Happy Friday! Just a few links to get the morning rolling — feel free to add your own in the comments: In the wake of the horrible attack on the Orthodox church in Egypt on New Year’s Day, this sort of thing gives me hope. A Twain scholar announced this week that he will be … Read more
I’m a lifelong Democrat who is now badly disillusioned with the Democratic Party. Why? Because the party has become America’s anti-Christian party, a party that is dominated not just by atheists and agnostics (the agnostics being of that species whose skepticism is the virtual equivalent of atheism), but by atheists and agnostics having an anti-religion … Read more
I don’t like the Jets. Their coach is brash and arrogant, their trainers cheat, their offense is hard to watch (a.k.a. boring and anemic), and the media’s disproportionate attention to all NYJets matters makes my inner SoCal Sports Fan mumble about “East Coast Bias” under its breath. GangGreen is exactly the sort of team I like … Read more
For the past 15 years, I have guided the work of this apostolate, both as Crisis Magazine and as InsideCatholic.com. Now I must step away. I will begin spending the bulk of my time getting Catholic Advocate ready for the 2012 election. That race promises to be one of the most important in the history … Read more