Yesterday morning I spent 15 minutes washing the breakfast dishes. I spent 30 minutes matching socks, folding underwear, and returning these items to dresser drawers. I spent 12 minutes looking for my toddler’s sandals. I spent 25 minutes on the phone with the doctor’s office and insurance company making sure a recent office visit would … Read more
Is clericalism still a problem in the Catholic Church, and if so, what do we do about it? We put that question to prominent Catholics of diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Here are their answers. Today, Inside Catholic concludes its multi-part, multi-week examination of clericalism in the Catholic Church. These items have already appeared: "On Clericalism," … Read more
At the altar, the priest presides. In the world, the laity preside. This is the basic principle that ought to govern all our thinking about the roles of the ordained and the laity in the mission of the Church. Unfortunately, a huge number of Catholics don’t think this way, because clericalism continues to … Read more
Deal W. Hudson and Francis X. Maier conclude their discussion on the propriety of a Catholic leveling public criticism against a bishop. In this special InsideCatholic.com Point/Counterpoint, Deal W. Hudson and Francis X. Maier, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver, discuss and debate whether a Catholic may criticize a bishop publicly. Is it a … Read more
In this special Crisis Magazine Point/Counterpoint, Deal W. Hudson and Francis X. Maier, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver, discuss and debate whether a Catholic may criticize a bishop publicly. Is it a violation of canon law? Must Catholic journalists avoid scandal or bad news or anything that shows the Church in a bad … Read more
Deal W. Hudson and Francis X. Maier discuss and debate the propriety of a Catholic leveling public criticism against a bishop. Is it a violation of canon law? In this special InsideCatholic.com Point/Counterpoint, Deal W. Hudson and Francis X. Maier, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver, discuss and debate whether or not a Catholic … Read more
Inside Catholic contributor Russell Shaw’s 20th book, Nothing To Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press), takes a candid and sometimes surprising look at the abuse of secrecy in an ecclesiastical context. In this interview, Shaw, former information director of the Catholic bishops’ conference and the Knights of Columbus, explains the … Read more
On May 22, 2008, a new era began in the history of what is called the Religious Right. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain rejected the endorsements of two of the leading Evangelical pastors in the United States, Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley. The impact of McCain publicly disavowing these two major figures … Read more
The central thesis of our civilization is found in the following passage from Plato’s Gorgias: "For no one who is not totally bereft of reason and courage is afraid to die; doing what’s unjust is what he’s afraid of. For of all evils, the ultimate is that of arriving in Hades with one’s soul … Read more
This week brought the unhappy news that Massachusetts senator Edward Moore Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor. The growth is located in the parietal lobe, that portion of the brain responsible for some sensory perceptions — taste, touch, movement — and for both the reception and expression of speech, and for math … Read more
A sleepy protest, an ironic double standard, and a religious order whose charism is to just blend in… You’ll find them all in Maureen Martin’s latest satirical take on the news. t t t Woman Who Left Catholic Church Over Sex Scandal Actually Just Wanted to Sleep In BOISE, IDAHO — Neighbors who initially hailed … Read more
Katha Pollitt’s April 29 column titled “Men of the Cloth” betrays the desperation of the dying radical feminist agenda. The article’s subhead — “When it comes to keeping women pregnant and in their place, polygamous Mormons and the pope have a lot in common. But the pope does it on a wider scale” — … Read more
Eric Genuis is a composer, performer, and conductor on a mission to save the culture from the destructive effects of bad music. Like the philosophers of ancient Greece, Genuis believes music shapes our character, and worries that "young people are damaged by popular music before they become adults." His solution is to make good music … Read more
In my last column, I noted that the California Supreme Court was about to decide on the constitutionality of gay marriage in that state. The verdict is in, and a law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman has been overturned. By a 4-3 decision, the court declared the state’s Defense … Read more
The Catholic Left is hanging itself right before our eyes. Having never come to grips with the Church’s teachings on sexuality, they are now tightening the noose on themselves in public. It is not a pretty sight. This month alone they have embroiled themselves in a debate with three separate archbishops, with no end in … Read more
A learned friend of mine recently wrote an op-ed piece for a newspaper in which she argued that the drive for same-sex marriage is not simply about same-sex marriage; it is also about winning moral approval for homosexuality. If society, acting through the state, tells us that homosexuals can marry one another, then it is … Read more
We all have strange and contradictory wishes concerning what prices should be. We are outraged at what is happening to the price of gas and food. We don’t think they should go up. In real terms, we want them to fall, and they have fallen in the last decade and a half. That’s a good … Read more
A colleague of mine was once in over his head with investors to whom he owed millions of dollars. On one particular day, they paid him a polite visit at his home, asking about the status of the investment and hoping for some indication of how soon they would receive their promised return. My colleague … Read more
The California Supreme Court has followed Massachusetts in finding that the “right to marry” includes the right to call a same-sex relationship a marriage. In doing so, they have done violence to the concept of marriage. They have ignored the difference between “may” and “can.” It is not that two persons of the same sex … Read more
Item: The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality. For the utterly confused atheist in your life, here’s another testament to the fact that atheism can’t stand to be in the same room with itself for too long. Here, the author tries to crib a little bit of consolation from the theistic tradition while hoping nobody … Read more