We never know what curiosities former students will come up with. Eric Wind, an ex-student long interested in the history of Georgetown College, found for sale on eBay an old examination given at Georgetown in January 1929. (Let me note that this test was not Schall’s, as in January of 1929, he was but … Read more
This week I’d like to thank my dogged readers for reading about my dogs, and all the other rococo digressions I squirted onto the page in the course of considering the Seven Deadly Sins and Opposing Virtues, because this week we’re done. Fittingly, since I began the series with Sloth, I put off Diligence to … Read more
Boredom during the liturgy is something all Catholics have felt from time to time, and it’s never justifiable. No matter how mundane the architecture, how dull the homily, or how bad the music, what’s taking place on the altar is a miraculous sacrifice that gives us the grace for salvation. That reality should be … Read more
In a previous article, I suggested that the Church in Canada has capitulated to the fads and heresies of the day without a good fight. Let me fill in the details. Â In the province where we spend the summer, the Church long ago abandoned all of its grade schools, high schools, and hospitals. Read … Read more
Over my fried alligator and onion rings at a restaurant outside New Orleans, Mr. and Mrs. G. spoke of their lives growing up in segregated southern Louisiana. The conversation was light and nostalgic until I brought up the issue of what the relationship was like in their childhood between “Creoles of color” and Cajuns. Mr. … 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
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
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Tom Hoopes outlines four strategies for beating proponents of the Culture of Death at their own game. Â Â From the perspective of the Catholic Church, the culture war can look more like a culture siege — a one-sided contest pitting the attacking villains against a peace-loving Church. Or worse, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Rev. Michael Enright outlines the features of a truly Catholic church building… and no, churches-in-the-round don’t qualify. In about 10 A.D. the Roman writer Vitrivus wrote that there are three qualities for good building, “venustas, firmitas et utilitas” — delight, firmness, and utility. What happens when these criteria … Read more
For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him, Fought him, starved with him. For twenty-five years my bed is his — If that’s not love, what is? — Fiddler on the Roof “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” This is the question we fear on airplanes, the question we recoil from in doorbell encounters. … Read more
In following the presidential contest this year, I have been at times amazed and disgusted at the kabuki theater our political discourse has become. The two major party candidates have presented themselves as both more and less than what they really are—trying to capture voters by simultaneously promising that they will solve our problems and … Read more
From the tenor of my reflections on the seven deadly sins, the careless reader might think I’m playing devil’s advocate — or, even worse, that I’ve pumped up my ego to the point where I think I can compete with C. S. Lewis. In fact, the only Lewis I’m hoping to emulate is Jerry. (Stay … Read more
An atheist who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jack Chick theorizes on What Rome Is Up To when a couple of Catholic sources remark that the discovery of life on other planets poses no particular threat to the Catholic Faith. This piece is a classic example of how sin makes you stupid. Our Bright knows … 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
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
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
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
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
These past two years, Catholics in England haven’t celebrated Ascension Day. This has meant the breaking of a tradition stretching back more than a thousand years. Even during penal times, when the Faith was persecuted, this 40th day after Easter was marked as a holy day, and all who could manage it went to Mass, … Read more
This year marks an anniversary for Catholics in Britain: 230 years since the first Catholic Relief Act. In 1778, the law banning Catholic worship and making it a capital offence to be a Catholic priest was relaxed for the first time since the reign of Elizabeth I. For several years I worked at the House … Read more