Much has been made of Detroit’s recent efforts to cope with its badly damaged economy and plummeting population. A number of high-profile photographers have documented the encroaching loneliness with devastating effect, a number of radical rezoning strategies have been suggested, and Michael Moore is always willing to give his opinion on the matter. Now, the city’s mayor is … Read more
Damian Thompson at the Telegraph isn’t happy with the English bishops for their silence in the face of the sex education bill that went before Parliament a few days ago. The leglislation will require Catholic schools to provide information to students on how to access contraception and abortion. Thompson reports “an astonishingly ignorant and sneering … Read more
Seen on the streets of Baltimore the other day (don’t worry, traffic was stopped when I snapped this picture). If you can’t read the text, it says, “The Light is ON for You. Catholic Churches around the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be open for confessions each Wednesday during Lent (www.ArchBalt.org).” This outreach program has been … Read more
Now this is interesting: American foreign policy is handicapped by a narrow, ill-informed and “uncompromising Western secularism” that feeds religious extremism, threatens traditional cultures and fails to encourage religious groups that promote peace and human rights, according to a two-year study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The council’s 32-member task force, which included … Read more
Those wondering why Francis Cardinal George suddenly announced his condemnation of New Ways Ministry on February 5 should take note of a meeting held a few days earlier in Washington, D.C. During the last weekend of January, a group of Catholics, lay and religious, met in Washington to launch “Catholics for Equality” (CFE). New Ways … Read more
It’s not often I take the time to recommend a book I haven’t written, but this one is too much fun for me to hold its authorship against it: Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sights, Symbols, and Societies, by Stephen Klimczuk and Gerald Warner. I can see how the writers sold this deeply Catholic … Read more
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of unmarried couples cohabitating shot up to 88% from 1990 to 2007. The New York Post reports that this trend has sparked an increase in pre-prenups — cohabitation agreements drawn up to protect each party and their interests should the relationship end. These agreements are particularly popular … Read more
Crunchy Con blogger Rod Dreher was crushed last week when his 41-year-old sister Ruthie was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. While the news has been devastating to his family, it has also drawn them closer in love, prompting Rod to wonder why, when life is so fragile, we insist on holding on to … Read more
Roasted artichokes in oil; garlic-pickled mushrooms; cipolline onions in balsamic; exquisite antipasti and exotic pastas; squid in ink — I am doing well out of Lent so far, thanks largely to an after-Christmas sell-off in a local supermarket. The proprietor is an Italian immigrant of some taste, who got it into his head that if … Read more
On the third day of the conclave — October 28, 1958 — the white smoke signaled to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square the election of a new pope, Angelo Cardinal Roncalli, patriarch of Venice, who took the name of John XXIII. The Roman crowd was momentarily silenced; it could not put a face to … Read more
…and no one’s there, does it make a sound? Over at dotCommonweal, Robert Imbelli had a brief post on the buzz-producing “Yes” from Scott Brown on yesterday’s jobs bill. While many analysts have spent the last little while dissecting the vote itself, Imbelli noticed a much quieter (yet much more depressing) note in the story: Three hours before … Read more
Last fall, I (and the rest of the world) reported on the story of Rom Houben, a man who was thought to have been in a coma for 23 years before doctors discovered that he was actually conscious. Even more incredible was that Houben was reported to be communicating — even hoping to write a book about … Read more
If you followed CPAC news at all, you know the big story of the conference was that Congressman Ron Paul improbably won the presidential straw poll. While I don’t think Paul has a chance at the 2012 nomination (sadly), the poll was revealing in other ways. 2395 attendees voted — the highest number in the … Read more
The only thing that explains Sen. Harry Reid’s latest verbal gaffe is stress and exhaustion — he needs a long vacation. Standing on the floor of the Senate yesterday with notes, yes, with notes on the podium in front of him, the majority leader said, I met with some people while I was home dealing … Read more
Last November 5, Ave Maria University celebrated a generous gift of $4 million from Tom Golisano, chairman of Paychex, the second largest payroll processor in the United States. Given that Golisano is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team, his gift will go to build a field house, where … Read more
Australia has her first saint! Sister Mary Mackillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be canonized on October 17. I will be making my first trip to Australia — Sydney and Melbourne — in early March, so I’m sure to encounter some of the excitement among Catholic Aussies at … Read more
For the last several years, I’ve been keeping a wary and mistrusting eye on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackon’s secretive attempts to turn the work responsible for some of my fondest (and, I would have thought, least cinematic) childhood memories into a motion picture. I speak, of course, of the long-gestating, mysterious, almost-impossibly challenging The Adventures of … Read more
The original title of this New York Times piece was too awesome not to keep. The article marks the passing of Yitta Schwartz, a 93-year-old Jewish matriarch — in the fullest sense of the word: When Yitta Schwartz died last month at 93, she left behind 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren and so many great- … Read more
Since the beginning of his pontificate, it has been widely understood that Pope Benedict XVI is working on a “reform of the reform” of the Catholic liturgy. The pope’s statements suggest that his intention is to clear up many of the distortions of Vatican II with regard to the liturgy, to combat widespread liturgical abuses, … Read more
Thanks to Father James Martin for pointing out the new movie Lourdes, which I hadn’t heard of before but now definitely want to see. The set-up seems straightforward — a young Frenchwoman, Christine, is afflicted with multiple sclerosis and visits Lourdes with a group of handicapped pilgrims — but the film itself takes a more complex look … Read more
