Last week, we started looking at the broad movement among some conservatives (including Catholics) over the past several years to excuse, minimize, defend, and champion the use of torture by the U.S. government in the “War on Terror.” Among Catholics, in particular, the conversation has taken place at multiple levels, since the Catholic torture defender … Read more
Bishop Thomas Wenski celebrated a Mass of Reparation this past Sunday in Orlando at the Cathedral of St. James. Although the Mass was offered in reparation for transgressions “against the dignity and sacredness of human life,” the one specific transgression prompting the liturgy was the decision by the University of Notre Dame to invite President … Read more
Our local barber shop is run by a cheery woman named Pearl who knows everyone in town. She waves at them all as they walk past the big window where you sit to have your hair cut. Pearl’s assistant is Ethel. Some months ago I noticed a Bible in an open cupboard at her end … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark P. Shea shows why honoring Mary is the most natural thing for a Christian to do. It has to be one of the strangest things in the world: So many Christians who love Jesus with all their hearts recoil in fear at the mention of His mother’s name, … Read more
Thanks to the irruption of Christianity within the history of this planet, the question of Church and State will not go away. It might have done, had Charles Martel failed to stop the Umayyad conquest of Europe at the Battle of Tours; for there is no equivalent distinction between “Mosque and State” in Islam. Or, … Read more
Rev. Stephen Sizer probably knows more about Christian Zionism than anyone in the world. At least, it seemed that way as we sat in the coffee shop at a Border’s bookstore in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Reverend Sizer has been an Anglican priest for 30 years, serving a parish in the UK with the quaint name … Read more
One of the wonders of human life is the birth, perhaps once a century, of a child with talents so far beyond the ordinary that he or she must be called a prodigy. Today the Church celebrates a spiritual child prodigy: Catherine of Siena. She was born on March 25, 1347 as one of twin … Read more
As years go, 2009 so far hasn’t been one for the ages. Our economic crisis continues to worsen (my 401ks have tanked so badly I’m thinking of putting what’s left of my retirement money into Chinese armament futures), while our government’s response consists of borrowing money to fund bankruptcy as usual. In Iowa, gay marriage … Read more
Suppose I asked, “Are there any circumstances when it would be okay for the president to order an interrogator to crush a nine-year-old boy’s testicles?” What would you answer? If you are a normal person and not John Yoo, the man who, from 2001 to 2003 was employed as the Justice Department’s legal advisor … Read more
I am not personally acquainted with the Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., the current president at the University of Notre Dame (where I was a graduate student in philosophy nearly a half-century ago). Not possessing an intimate knowledge of the workings of his mind, I can only speculate as to what he was thinking when he … Read more
One would be hard-pressed to find a man better suited to the task he had been given than Thomas E. Dillon. The students at his beloved Thomas Aquinas College, where he served as president for almost 20 years, were blessedly unaware of the incredible pressures Dr. Dillon bore day-in and day-out; still, they all recognized … Read more
Peter and Helen Evans know what it’s like to be spiritual seekers. They ran through the gamut of Eastern religions and philosophies before returning to the Christianity of their youth. Better still, they’ve written a book to help those who find themselves similarly seeking. The result is Get Serious: The Church’s Stand on Contemporary Culture, … Read more
Last year, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) announced it would no longer fund the community-organizing arm of ACORN, a decision based on the disclosure of ACORN’s explicitly partisan efforts on behalf of President Barack Obama’s political campaign. Now a much more egregious use of Catholic money has been alleged. LifeSiteNews (LSN), which operates … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker argues that not only does evil fail to disprove the existence of God, but without God, we would be unable to recognize evil. As an advocate of the Intelligent Design movement, I’m very often confronted with the following rather pointed criticism: “Well, if the world is designed, then … Read more
My church in downtown Nashua is a reverent, slightly battered Irish parish, with painted wood that bravely substitutes for marble, a bathroom that always smells funky, and a mostly empty rectory. Built for ten or twelve, the red brick fortress houses two of the best priests in our diocese, who offer the Latin Mass twice … Read more
The first impression really was the lasting one in my instance with the Rev. Stanley L. Jaki (1924-2009). More than 20 years later, I vividly see him sitting me down on the porch of a house in Princeton and telling me that religious freedom was the most important teaching of Vatican II and that, in … Read more
I have a lot of sympathy for New Age folks. Not sympathy with their ideas (if one can use such a strong word as “idea” for the quicksilver emotionalism and muddy mixture of suburban folk religion that is the New Age), but sympathy with the elemental movements of the heart that seem to animate much … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Francis Maier reveals the way lawyers and anti-Catholic politicians are exploiting the sex abuse scandal to rob the Church. We got a new law passed in California that opens up the statute of limitations for all victims of sexual abuse. It’s something we’ve been trying to do in several states for … Read more
Sunday, April 19, 2009, marks the fourth anniversary of the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. Although he is now 82, a career theologian, and a former professor, Benedict’s pontificate has been anything but dull. His decisions have brought joy to conservatives and consternation to liberals. He has inspired young people and the … Read more
The Holy Father, his entourage, and the international media are preparing to visit the Holy Land May 8-15. Pope Benedict XVI will undoubtedly encourage further peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the prospect of a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict has become more remote, as the situation on the ground is constantly changing. … Read more