The Genesis of the Novus Ordo and “Theological and Spiritual Flaws” of the TLM
Part Three of a response to Cavadini, Healy, and Weinandy’s critique of the traditional Latin Mass.
Where Francis Leads, We Can’t Follow
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.” … Read more
Defund the USCCB
“Judas was the first Catholic Bishop to accept a government grant.” — Peter Kreeft An integral part of Pope Paul VI’s vision of a more “synodal” Church, his muto proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae called for the establishment of national bishops’ conferences. These conferences would advise the Holy See with mundane administrative tasks (e.g., determining priests’ salaries) as … Read more
Jean Vanier’s Sins Are His Own
According to a report released by L’Arche International, Jean Vanier, the Catholic Canadian founder of a network of communities for intellectually disabled individuals, sexually abused at least six women. This news comes as both a disappointment and a shock to all those who regarded Vanier as a man of exemplary virtue. “I was horrified,” writes … Read more
Was Vatican II a Mistake?
Editor’s note: this article first appeared in the June 2004 print edition of Crisis Magazine. Most Catholics in 1959 probably didn’t even know what an ecumenical council was. And yet, here it was. Pope John XXIII announced that the goals of the Second Vatican Council would be “the renewal of the spirit of the Gospel … Read more
What Will Francis Choose: ‘Expert’ Opinion or Orthodoxy?
Nobody was under any illusions about the stakes at the Synod on the Amazon. Ostensibly, the synod was convened to help the Pope address concerns about the Amazon in consultation with Amazonian church authorities. It was evident from the very beginning, however, that the synod would serve instead as a staging-ground for progressively-minded bishops to … Read more
Paul VI’s Response to Margaret Sanger’s Sexual Revolution
In September of 1966, Margaret Sanger, the outspoken public voice of the Sexual Revolution and founder of Planned Parenthood, died in Tucson, Arizona. Sanger was a passionate sexual libertine whose selfishness extended even towards her own family. Finding child-rearing tedious, she abandoned her three children to caretakers so that she could move about in the … Read more
Humanae Vitae: Blessed Paul VI’s Miracle
I am hurtling in a high-speed train from Glasgow to London, with a heavy heart saying farewell to my native land, a sentiment that should live within us all. It is the memorial of Saint Charbel Maklouf, a Lebanese priest, ascetic, and mystic, as well as the vigil of Saint James the Greater, whose feast … Read more
Humanae Vitae’s Challenge to Modernity
July 25, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae (HV). This encyclical, and its subsequent contestation in certain “Catholic” circles, has been a defining moment of the past half-century. The central teaching of HV (#12) is that there is an “inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative … Read more
Bishops of Kazakhstan Reaffirm Humanae Vitae
Editor’s note: The following document is a pastoral letter issued May 13 by the bishops of Kazakhstan on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! The current year is marked by the memorable event of the 50th anniversary of … Read more
Does History Repeat With Amoris Laetitia Confusion?
The Holy Father actually said to the College of Cardinals: “In a matter of such importance it seems right that Catholics desire to follow one single law propounded authoritatively by the Church. So it seems advisable to recommend that for the present no one should arrogate to himself the right to take a stand differing … Read more
Paul VI and the Unexpected Lessons of Populorum Progressio
March 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Blessed Paul VI’s social encyclical Populorum Progressio. Even today, this document is regularly referenced by some Catholics, particularly Latin Americans, because of its focus upon global poverty. Others, however, view the encyclical as a highly time-bound text and reflective of many now-discredited economic ideas which proliferated in the late-1960s. … Read more
Spiritual Renewal Paul VI Spoke of Has Not Yet Materialized
Earlier this month, Pope Francis celebrated the Saturday Vigil Mass at All Saints Church in Rome in order to mark the 50th anniversary of the so-called “first Mass in Italian.” For, in this parish, on March 7, 1965, Blessed Paul VI celebrated Mass partially in the vernacular for the first time, according to a reformed version … Read more
The World and the Church
In his speech closing the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI noted that “the trend of modern culture” is “centered on humanity, … the modern mind” is “accustomed to assess everything in terms of usefulness,” “the fundamental act of the human person … tends to pronounce in favor of his own absolute autonomy, … [and] … Read more
The Prophetic Papacy of Paul VI
“Eight days ago I went to Fumona to pay my respects to Celestine V. You know his story. He was a very simple man who mistrusted himself. At the moment of [his] election the Apostolic See had been vacant for twenty-seven months: there were only twelve cardinals left and they could not agree among themselves. … Read more
Tyranny of the Extroverts, In Church and Out
Jung’s theory of extroversion/introversion in his book, Psychological Types, may be the one holdover from the era of “analytic psychology” and classical psychoanalysis which has actually had a practical effect on contemporary psychology and culture. I think especially of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) test based on Jung’s book. The test, various versions of … Read more