One of the big issues under debate in the United Kingdom this summer is whether to ban the burqa. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said last month that the burqa debases women and is not welcome in his country; Britain is trying to decide whether to follow suit. To begin with, there is some confusion … Read more
Catholics Teach the Children of New Orleans Since the Katrina disaster, the schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans have swelled to double the enrollment of the local public schools — 40,000 to 20,000. Rev. Neal McDermott, O.P., superintendent of the Catholic schools, told me yesterday that the archdiocese is facing a financial crunch when … Read more
The University of Chicago has just announced that its students are not, in fact, humans, but magicians trapped inside of monkeys. The Windy City dons are not alone in believing this about the bright young things who crowd its halls at the estimated cost of $52,298 per year. Many other equally prestigious and pricey schools … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker says we have an obligation not to be unnecessarily distracting to others at Mass. As I have not received nearly enough hate mail of late, I thought it best to write something else on modesty, this time modesty at Mass (see my first article, “Drawing a … Read more
This year, just like last year, Gay Pride weekend coincided with the feast of Corpus Christi. Washington, D.C.’s Pride parade was fairly restrained: It featured a cornucopia of Episcopalians, and all the marchers went out of their way to sweetly drape beads over the little elementary-school girls standing in front of me. There were Affirming … Read more
Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, three years before the world would collapse into the chaos of the French Revolution. His schooling did not start until he was nine. It lasted only three years. When Jean was eleven, an underground priest stopped at the Vianney family farm. When he asked Jean … Read more
In the last several years I’ve been invited to a few dozen colleges and churches around the country, usually to speak about Dante. It’s no surprise, I guess, that a translator of the Divine Comedy should receive such invitations. What is surprising, though, and what confounds the secularist who derives his news from Mother Times … Read more
Can we talk about Carrie Prejean? Over the past several weeks, it has been perfectly impossible to avoid hearing the latest news about Miss California. I know because I have tried. First, there was the media coverage of her “controversial” statement that marriage is a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman. I bumped … Read more
There we were, the four of us: me; an academic colleague of mine; a 60-something, salt o’ the earth, sarcastic Yankee pastor; and a smart Midwestern seminarian on the brink of ordination. The beer was flowing freely — into my glass, anyway — and we were having the kind of conversation laymen have with priests … Read more
As my dogged readers know, this year I’ve been fitfully trying to work on a book about the vices and virtues. It has morphed a few times, as projects will, but took its final form as The Bad Catholic’s Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins. I meet with my publishers today to design a cover–which … Read more
“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.” — Eph 4:25 There are an estimated 3,500 abortions taking place in America every day. Many Catholics who state their desire to reduce that number nevertheless supported the election of Barack Obama to … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Evelyn Birge Vitz says that denying theological gender differences actually undercuts male and female dignity. For Christianity, gender is both important and irrelevant. God creates, Christ redeems, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies men and women alike, along with Jews and Greeks, rich and poor, black and white. … Read more
I watched the nubile yoga instructor demonstrate. “This is an awesome stretch,” she crooned, lying down on her back on the mat. “Just put your hands like this over your head, flat on the mat. Now, spread your feet like this to anchor your energy,” she continued, bending like a jointed Barbie. “Now, push … Read more
Tiny hands cupped my face. “Mama, Mama,” I heard a voice whisper. “I need you.” “Gah!” I responded. To explain my somewhat inelegant response, I should tell you that it was about 2 a.m. when the tiny hands cupped my face and the small voice awakened me from a sound sleep. The little person needed … Read more
On New Year’s Eve, my best friend and I went to a bonfire. We’ve done this for the past couple of years: You’re supposed to throw a note or representation of some unwanted aspect of the old year into the flames. But this year the wind was up, and the bonfire roared, sweeping toward delightedly … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Kathryn Jean Lopez exposes the lies at the heart of the sexual revolution about birth control and “safe sex” — and the havoc they have wreaked on our nation. Amanda, age 30 — I’ve changed her name and those of other women I interviewed for this story in order to … Read more
Last week, startled by the vehemence some Catholics expressed against Israel on her blog in the wake of the attack on Gaza, Dawn Eden noted a vital point about magisterial guidance when it comes to thinking about Israel’s right to exist: As a Jewish convert to Catholicism who desires ardently that everyone, especially my loved … Read more
I once said that I’d die to keep abortion legal and easily accessible, and I meant it. I was vehemently pro-choice, as were most of the women in my social circles. We believed abortion was a critical right for women and could not imagine how anyone could be pro-life. We were products of a culture … Read more
What does Aristotle have to do with same-sex marriage? Aristotle held that the human race, in addition to being divided into male and female, was also divided into slave and free. This latter division was not merely conventional or legal; like the male-female division, it was a product of nature. Just as nature had made … Read more
A fundamental assumption leading to the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was that because women are biologically tied to the birth process, they should therefore bear all responsibility in deciding the life or death of their children. The reason for this perspective is straightforward: Roe v. Wade rejected the idea that another person … Read more