During four years of college and seven of graduate school, most of it in philosophy and theology, I heard only one lecture on virtue — the virtue of art. Thus I consider it miraculous that the language of virtue has returned to public discourse. But the virtues don’t tell the whole story about human life. … Read more
Last night, we witnessed something that has only happened one other time in the history of Major League Baseball: a post-season no-hitter. Roy “Doc” Halladay was as dominant as I have ever seen a pitcher be; he was throwing 5 or 6 “plus” pitches, and he was throwing them whenever and wherever he wanted. Only … Read more
(From PhysOrg.com): Researchers from Cambridge University in the UK have been able to communicate with brain-injured patients in “locked states” commonly referred to as persistent vegetative states (PVS). They predict such patients will soon be able to communicate and perhaps even move themselves around in motorized wheelchairs. This is huge. I can’t imagine the frustration … Read more
Following up on Wolfgang Grassl’s column this morning, where he argues that the picture of Christianity in Europe is not as bleak as it seems, comes this news story to remind me that it could be so, so much worse: Saudi police raided a secret Catholic mass in Riyadh last week and arrested a dozen … Read more
The bishops really don’t want to deny communion to anyone unless they believe it’s absolutely necessary. Archbishop John Nienstedt (Minneapolis-St. Paul), however, denied communion to 25 students and members of the St. John’s Abbey community in Collegeville, MN. They were wearing rainbow buttons and sashes in protest of the Church’s position on homosexuality and homosexual … Read more
There are more undiscovered languages than you’d expect — a lot more. Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that two linguists working for National Geographic have found a new one in the Himalayan foothills of India’s northeastern state, Arunachal Pradesh. More than 120 languages are spoken in the area, which is very isolated because of the mountainous … Read more
If one believes the opinions of American alarmists, Christianity in Europe is already dead, or very close to it. The main reasons for this prediction lie in the indeed worrying demographic trends, as well as the fact that Catholicism in particular has thoroughly fallen out of favor with the intellectual class. But as a European … Read more
As the discussion continues to move along in the comments over on my piece about the need for traditional Catholics to show a bit more friendly charity (the horror!) examples have begun to spring up around the Internet showing exactly what I’m talking about. Predictably, one of the very forums I mentioned as an example … Read more
William Oddie at the UK’s Catholic Herald took issue with George Weigel’s call for British bishops to get more confrontational with the New Atheism movement: [T]here are two reasons why they won’t and probably shouldn’t try. The first is that they are probably too frightened of them, even now, to do anything of the sort. … Read more
Last week, an earnest Catholic commentator over at the Catholic Key Blog mourned the fact that House Democrats had spoiled the chances for “immigration reform” by linking the issue to unrelated matters that scared off supporters, tainting the sacred cause of extending amnesty to illegal immigrants by wrapping it up in a rainbow flag, then … Read more
The Christian Science Monitor carried a short piece on Monday about the growing number of farmers choosing to shun genetically modified (GM) crops. The reasons vary, but cost is a big one. According to the article, the price of corn seed rose 32 percent last year, and soybean seed went up 24 percent. The high … Read more
I don’t want to oversell this, but these Connecticut high school girls — protesting their cheerleading squad’s skimpy uniforms — give me hope for the future: A half-dozen upperclassmen on the team appeared before the city Board of Education this week asking its members how they’d feel if their daughters were dressed in something similar. “We ask with … Read more
As I write, there is a Catholic Press Conference being held at the Vatican, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Three representatives were invited from each country, and one of them was Greg Erlandson, president of Our Sunday Visitor. Erlandson is an astute and experienced observer of Catholic media, and his comments to … Read more
It is with some trepidation that I ask these two questions, steeling myself for getting lectured. But let me give the context, first. The Context I’ve been in the Church all of six months thus far (I was an evangelical, with no particular denominational opinions, until the last four years or so). My wife did … Read more
Today is the one year birthday of my youngest foster child. Over the past five months, I’ve marveled at her growth, her vice-like grip on anything I’m trying to read, and her amusement as she’s discovered how to walk. And even though she’s become far more vocal over the past few weeks, I’ve also really … Read more
During the last Presidential race, I remember watching with wonder as oceans of ink were spilled over the extraordinary oratory powers of (eventual) President Barack Obama. Somehow, despite the repeated insistence of media commentators, political analysts, and any number of acquaintances, I could never get around the “tennis match” aura that his heavily-Teleprompted speeches conveyed. Perhaps it was the result … Read more
On October 17, Pope Benedict XVI will canonize Mother Mary MacKillop, co-founder of the sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She will be the first native-born Australian saint. What is most interesting to the press about Mother’s canonization is not so much her heroic dedication to the people she served, but the fact … Read more
Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a remarkable blog post criticizing Evangelicalism for its acceptance of divorce: When the Christian right was organized in the 1970s and galvanized in the 1980s, the issues of abortion and homosexuality were front and center. Where was divorce? [University of Washington political science professor … Read more
American politicians, unlike European ones, not only can but must play the Jesus card when they are faltering. Accordingly, Obama has done so, and just as accordingly, earnest Christians are now mulling over the “Is he really a Christian?” question that always arises whenever any polarizing public figure says he or she believes in Jesus. … Read more
The Nobel Prize in medicine this year has been awarded to Robert Edwards, the man responsible for developing in vitro fertilization. Scientifically, of course, IVF was a major development; morally, it has been disastrous. Reports estimate that around 4 million children have been born through IVF treatments since 1978 — but who knows how many millions … Read more