I am seated in the chancel of a glorious medieval church, just behind the great rood screen, one of only a handful in England that survived the Reformation. Originally, it would have been topped by a great cross, with figures of Our Lady and St. John alongside. Today, its intricate carving and delicate arches welcome … Read more
Ramesh Ponnuru, an honoree at the Morley Institute’s 25th Anniversary Partnership Dinner, offered remarks at the event on his search for truth and the defense of life. * * * It is generous of you to recognize me since I have been a Catholic in public life for such a short period of time. My … Read more
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens, Twelve Books, 307 pages, $24.99 One is tempted to quip that Christopher Hitchens is certainly one of the best minds of the 18th century, but that would be to give Hitchens too much credit as an equal to Voltaire in wit. He is not, and … Read more
As a practical matter, the argument that a pro-choice president will end abortion is far-fetched. Never in American history has a laissez-faire chief executive ended a great moral evil. Take slavery and de jure racial discrimination. Pro-slavery presidents did not end slavery; it was brought to its conclusion by Abraham Lincoln, who in his 1860 … Read more
There is a train of thought that careens down the tracks of a shaky syllogism, and it picks up speed every four years in the United States. Like the Little Engine that Could, it chugs along and says, “I am pro-life and were I president, I would end abortion. Therefore if I vote for a … Read more
The English edition of L’Osservatore Romano, for the Fourth of July, carried a “Common Declaration” signed in the Vatican Private Library by Pope Benedict XVI and the Orthodox Archbishop H. B. Chrysostomos II of Nea Justiniana and All Cyprus. In No. 4 of this declaration, these two leaders, somewhat curiously, address themselves to “those who … Read more
This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most unfortunate and controversial Supreme Court decisions, Everson v. Board of Education. While the case had a good result, in that the Court ruled that Catholic parents could be reimbursed for their children using public buses to get to parochial school, the case has a … Read more
Last Thursday, 16 of the 25 Catholics in the U. S. Senate voted to overturn the “Mexico City Policy” to allow funding to overseas health clinics providing abortions. One of the 16 was freshman Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) who ran against, and defeated, Sen. Rick Santorum as a “pro-life” candidate. It’s doubtful whether Casey, … Read more
Two years ago, the mainstream media gathered in a special conclave in Rome to discuss the disastrous election to the papacy of Ratzinger the Enforcer, God’s Rottweiler, the hardliner, inflexible, rigid, etc., blah blah. Some of us suggested to our television screens that the talking heads might want to wait more than a few seconds … Read more
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We hear this bracing sentiment often enough in musical and liturgical settings, most notably in the seraphic motet by Tomás Luis de Victoria, or in the spare sequence of chant. When it is conveyed to us under these modalities, … Read more
At first blush, you’d be hard-pressed to figure how a trio of middle-aged nuns could be victims of the Church’s sex-abuse scandal. But there’s no other way to describe the plight of the three Sisters of Bethany — one of them a hunched and wrinkled 69 — who will soon be evicted from the convent … Read more
It’s not always easy these days to tell which of our two major political parties is the Stupid Party and which the Evil Party. But it remains true, as a conservative wag once said, that from time to time the parties collaborate on something that’s both stupid and evil and call it bipartisanship. Although I … Read more
I’m not a Republican because I think Republicans are fun or especially good company. If I were looking for sociality or cordiality in my political party, I would look elsewhere. I would also look elsewhere if the GOP ever turned its back on the issues that brought me into its fold in the first place: … Read more
A few years back, Russell Shaw wrote a terrific book called To Hunt, To Shoot, To Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic Laity. It took its title from an amazing remark by a 19th-century English monsignor who loftily declared, “What is the province of the laity? To hunt, to shoot, to entertain. These matters they understand, … Read more
These days of Inside Catholic’s nascence find us debating the merits of political parties and ideologies in light of both Catholic teaching and historical tradition. Which party, which corresponding set of philosophies, is the one to which good Catholics ought to hitch their wagon? Does such a party even exist? I don’t want to give … Read more
The first in a three-part series, where prominent Catholic writers explain and defend their political orientation. * * * In late 1993, I worked for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to redevelop a poor, black neighborhood in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The area felt remote, almost uninhabited. From my front porch, I would often see lone … Read more
This is the first time since 2001 that 9/11 has snuck up on me unannounced. For the past five years, the anniversary has been preceded by a sinking feeling in my stomach that wouldn’t leave until 9/12. And then, of course, there is the usual media rush to wring every last ounce of pathos from … Read more
Senator Sam Brownback was traveling between events while campaigning in New Hampshire when I spoke to him last week. Despite criticism, Brownback has kept the abortion issue at the top of his agenda for the nation, and recently finished among the top three candidates in the Ames Straw Poll. I called him to ask about … Read more
It has been said that while writing the Summa, Saint Thomas Aquinas was, among other things, engaging in a dialogue with Saint Augustine across the centuries. In his extraordinary Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI also seems to regard, in his mind’s eye, a number of interlocutors, living and dead. It has … Read more
In response to continuing calls for troop withdrawals from Iraq, including from within his own party (see Sen. John Warner’s “bring them home for Christmas” plan), President George W. Bush made two major addresses — to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion — and then made a surprise visit to Anbar province. … Read more