Out from Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting Dawn Stefanowicz, Annotation Press, 245 pages, $14.95 As a clinical law professor in 1986, I represented six-year-old Tiffany in a proceeding to terminate her mother’s parental rights. It was a heart-breaking and difficult case because the mother-daughter bond was strong — and hugely inappropriate. My little client’s … Read more
I like to think of myself as a seasoned mom. Â But even a seasoned mom sometimes meets her match. It’s in our most trying motherly moments, I have found, that God graces us with the gift of humility — by opening our eyes to our helpless dependence upon others. One warm spring Saturday morning a … Read more
I know a woman – and, in fairness, I must say that she’s a truly good Catholic woman — who’s slightly bonkers on the subject of birth control. I suppose there are people like that on both sides of this argument, but this woman happens to be bonkers on the pro-contraception side. You can’t … Read more
Brideshead Revisited, the classic Catholic novel by Evelyn Waugh, was made into a highly successful television miniseries in 1981. The 11-part series — written by John Mortimer, produced by Granada Television, and starring Jeremy Irons — was praised for its fidelity to Waugh’s novel, particularly for its respectful treatment of the Catholic faith. Every major … Read more
Antwerp is home to glorious churches, but it’s difficult to pray in them. At the cathedral dedicated to Our Lady, a large section at the base of the nave, with a glorious view of the whole church under its superb gothic arches, is set aside for prayer. But it feels bleak. The Blessed Sacrament is … Read more
For those who may have missed it, P. Z. Myers, a washed-up academic at a third-tier school who takes out his bitterness on Christians and calls it "science blogging," claimed that some human toothache named Webster Cook had received death threats for stealing a Eucharist and threatening to desecrate it. Reader John Farrell repeatedly tried … Read more
The California Supreme Court supremely violated the will of the people of that state when it overturned California’s eight-year-old Defense of Marriage Act. The court declared that homosexuals have a right to marry the person of their choice. The Catholic governor of California supported this ruling, as did several other prominent, publicly Catholic Californians. The … Read more
Two weeks ago I spoke with Bishops Mar Sarhad Jammo and Mar Bawai Soro about their plan to protect Iraqi Christians from violence and ensure religious liberty. The bishops expressed hope that one day the provisions of the Iraq Constitution protecting all religious minorities from discrimination and persecution could be implemented. In speaking with Manny … Read more
In the Danish town of Odense, the tomb of Saint Canute IV, who had tried to conquer William the Conqueror, has a bullet mark from a clash with Nazi occupiers. Bent Juel-Jansen (1922-2006) fought in the Danish resistance, helping Allied airmen escape, and later served two years in the navy, having been born in that … Read more
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI returned to a theme he has advanced several times in his papacy: the importance of faith combined with reason, and the inadequacy of either faith or reason alone. This idea of the complementary nature of faith and reason received international … Read more
The Batman franchises have long struggled to find the correct balance between good and evil. In the original Batman, Tim Burton’s love for the visually (and emotionally) bizarre, combined with Jack Nicholson’s apparent inability to control himself, produced a film whose focus quickly shifted from Michael Keaton’s mildly-tormented title character to Nicholson’s wildly over-acted Joker. … Read more
About 30 years ago I organized (or found it to be organizing itself) a peculiar Friday afternoon group that came to be called Beer ‘n’ Bull. Despite its rather rackety sound, it is a surprisingly sober conclave, mostly of my college students and (now) former students. Obviously the (very loose) membership has changed over 38 … Read more
What is “Catholic” fiction? Is it fiction written by a Catholic? Must it include Catholic characters and treat distinctly Catholic themes? Does it reflect a “Catholic sensibility”? Should the reader even bother with such questions? To try to sort through some of these issues, Amy Welborn, Matthew Lickona, Bishop Daniel Flores, and Joseph O’Brien spent … Read more
Speaking in Independence, Missouri, on June 30, Sen. Barack Obama gave what may be called his “I am a patriot” speech. He said that “the question of who is — or is not — a patriot all too often poisons our political debate.” He then displayed his own patriotic credentials by declaring, “Throughout my life, … Read more
Sr. Marla Marie Lucas is proof that God can call one to the religious life from anywhere — even the Washington Post newsroom. In 1982, as a 21-year-old graduate of George Washington University’s journalism program, Lucas was employed as an assistant to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Post editorial cartoonist “Herblock” when a chance meeting with two … Read more
Archaeologists find a pre-Christian stone that describes a savior who will die and rise in three days. Has Christianity been debunked? Mark Shea takes a look. In a story that has "Academic Seeks Publicity Gig" written all over it, the New York Times breathlessly revealed the other day that some professor had found a stone … Read more
The Convention for the Common Good was held in Philadelphia over the past weekend. When I wrote about the gathering in early April, Catholics Organize to Elect Obama, one of its co-sponsors wrote to me saying that I had mischaracterized their “non-partisan” effort to bring Catholics together to discuss public policy. Further, they told … Read more
Yesterday probably passed without much fanfare in your home, but July 14 is a day I usually try to commemorate. Not because I carry a single drop of French blood (more’s the pity — I’d be proud to be a cousin of Joan of Arc and François Mauriac). No, it’s because I think Bastille Day … Read more
Mark I. Miravalle teaches theology at Franciscan University and is known around the world for his lectures on Mariology, private revelation, and Marian apparitions. He also heads a Catholic movement promoting an understanding of the Blessed Mother as "Coredemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces, and Advocate for the People of God." When I spoke to Miravalle … Read more
Marking each chapter of George Will’s latest book, One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation, is a simple graphic of the sort of round, wire-rimmed glasses that are as recognizable to Will as was the plain black suit and slim tie to Albert Einstein. One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations … Read more
