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• February 03, 2012 4:21 PM A Dream Bishop Rallies His Troops By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  “As your bishop, I come to you with an apology, a prayer, and a mission. We face a grave threat from the government of the United States, the threat of the most powerful government in the

Displaying 40 most recent blog posts.

• February 02, 2012 8:50 PM Sister Marie-Thérèse’s Trials By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Poor Sister Marie-Thérèse de Vioménil! Again and again she wrote to Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade to explain her spiritual troubles, yet again and again she received what must

• February 01, 2012 8:16 PM Russell Shaw’s Book on Clericalism By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Please note that I have just reviewed Russell Shaw's interesting book, To Hunt, to Shoot, to Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic Laity. You'll find it in the In Depth Analysis section here:

• January 31, 2012 1:35 PM De-Baptism and the Records of the Church By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  It’s a short story with big consequences: A French diocese appeals order to remove baptismal record. A similar case occurred in Spain regarding membership records kept by Opus Dei. There are

• January 30, 2012 5:23 PM Back to the Future in Ireland By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  I doubt things have deteriorated quite enough for this to go anywhere, but the logic of a recent hate crime complaint in Ireland is intriguing. Humanist John Colgan argued that a recent homily of

• January 27, 2012 1:49 PM Archbishop Dolan’s Letdown, and Job One By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  What’s wrong with this picture? The leader of the American hierarchy, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, said in an interview that he was “terribly let down, disappointed and

• January 25, 2012 12:03 PM Art Masterpieces Teaching Church History By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Duquesne University Press has done something noteworthy by publishing two new full-color books which present masterpieces of art with accompanying text to illustrate key moments in the history of

• January 23, 2012 8:12 PM On Life Day, Obama Defies Reality...Again By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  It should come as no surprise that President Obama has once again used the day of the March for Life to signal his direct and strenuous opposition to the goals of the marchers. In a brief statement,

• January 20, 2012 11:40 AM Is Homosexuality Biologically Determined? By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  We’ve been trained by the media to believe that same-sex attraction is biologically determined, that it is unchangeable and damaging to attempt to change it, that it has no correlation

• January 18, 2012 9:53 PM My Catholic Call, and Yours By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  The first readings at Mass the last two mornings are favorites of mine. Both involve the call of God, one to Samuel, the other to David. David, of course, received a call when Samuel anointed him

• January 16, 2012 2:08 PM Challenging the Limitations of Church Authority over Politics By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  My In Depth Analysis (Banning Contraceptives? The Art of the Possible) occasioned two Sound Off! comments which merit further discussion. One criticizes the limitations I set on the

• January 12, 2012 3:34 PM Self-Abandonment in the Winter of Our Discontent By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Shakespeare’s Richard III begins with Richard lamenting the triumphal accession of his brother, King Edward IV, to the throne of England. His words are intended bitterly: “Now is

• January 10, 2012 4:26 PM Papal Diplomacy, Values, and Ourselves By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Each year during the Christmas season, the Pope addresses the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. In this address, he highlights the concerns which should animate the mutual

• January 06, 2012 8:12 PM Ghosts of Christmas Past By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  The Week magazine of December 30th did a good job of briefing its readers on the Puritan opposition to celebrating Christmas which afflicted America well into the 19th century. The Pilgrims who

• January 06, 2012 8:09 PM Two Books: Devoted to Death and America's Church By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  R. Andrew Chesnut's Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, The Skeleton Saint and Thomas Tweed's America's Church: The National Shrine and Catholic Presence in the Nation’s Capital, both recently out

• January 02, 2012 4:47 PM A New Year’s Resolution: Charity in Discussion By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  When I reflect on my own interaction with critics over the past year, I recall those occasions when I was decidedly not conciliatory. And in surveying various discussion groups, including some

• December 30, 2011 12:09 PM Fasting for Joy By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  You don’t have to look for long at Catholic news to know that the peaceful practice of one’s faith is hard to come by. Christians seem to be always suffering, and everywhere. Consider

• December 27, 2011 6:12 PM Even Austrian Darkness Cannot Overcome the Light By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  In February of this year, an Austrian teacher, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, was found guilty of “denigration of religious beliefs of a legally recognized religion” because, during a

• December 22, 2011 11:01 AM Pedophilia: An Obscure Message of Hope By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  It may seem strange to comment on pedophilia in the period leading up to Christmas, when we would all prefer to focus on children, and indeed on the Child, without worrying about the dangers to

• December 20, 2011 11:11 AM And the master commended them, saying… By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  In my home town, thieves are very active in the copper business. The metal has risen in value so much that the robbers go into empty homes and strip them of their copper piping. Meanwhile, in Los

• December 19, 2011 4:52 PM Jesus Christ: The Singularity of Christmas By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  The Pope’s reflections on the Virgin Birth as a warranty of the divinity of her Son remind me of the events which scientists describe with the term “singularity”. Because a

• December 15, 2011 4:25 PM Political Counsel from St. Thomas More By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  In the In Depth Analysis I just wrote, Toward a Realistic View of Society, I make the argument that a realistic assessment of the social order begins with an understanding of the importance of

• December 13, 2011 4:21 PM Commission on Religious Freedom Indispensable? Oh Come Now... By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  My theory is that if we can’t reduce our Federal deficit by cutting the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, then there is probably nothing at all that we can cut. I know the US

• December 06, 2011 2:40 PM Pornography—or Persons as Objects By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Did you know that more than 80% of all pornographic web pages originate in the United States? As with so many other things, we Americans are the chief exporters of pornography to the world. One

• December 05, 2011 6:20 PM Growing Up in Catholic Orphanages By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  From all you’ve heard about the Irish Church and abuse problems elsewhere, you might think this is a horror story, but it is not. A man named Edward Rohs, who coordinates mental health

• December 02, 2011 3:23 PM The Assent Owed to Vatican II By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  What is finally emerging as the sticking point between the Vatican and the Society of Saint Pius X is the question of the assent owed to the Second Vatican Council. This is now the subject of

• December 01, 2011 1:50 PM An Exhortation to the Clergy By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Are all priests and bishops beset with the evils of concupiscence, covetousness, pride of life and continuous involvement in secular affairs? The answer is “yes” if we mean they are

• November 30, 2011 11:01 AM An Inside Joke about Teilhard de Chardin By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Teilhard de Chardin was something of an inside joke himself. A French Jesuit who dabbled in both paleontology and theology in the first half of the twentieth century, Teilhard wrote a variety of

• November 29, 2011 2:00 PM A Catholic Shift on Sexual Abuse? By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Saturday’s address by Pope Benedict XVI to the U. S. Bishops of Region II may mark a turning point in the Catholic response to sexual abuse. I’ve been saying for years that the Church

• November 23, 2011 1:36 PM The Moral Obligation of Reality By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  If a person feels depressed and wishes to commit suicide, does it amount to a personal attack if I urge him to resist his inclination, to understand that his depression is a disorder, and to seek to

• November 22, 2011 4:08 PM The Spiritual Tradition of Catholic England By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Now here’s a real prayer for you: The holy Body of Christ Jesu be my salvation of body and soul. Amen. The Glorious blood of Christ Jesu bring my soul and body into the everlasting bliss.

• November 21, 2011 5:20 PM Cardinal O’Malley, Resisting Gay Pressure, Stands by His Editor By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Something is very wrong when priests join forces with gay activists in any cause whatsoever. The presumption must be that the priests in question are sympathetic to gay activism, and this

• November 17, 2011 8:28 PM Grace and Rationalization: Closely Linked By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  In studying the Catholic doctrine on grace, a fascinating connection emerges between rationalization and grace—or rather resistance to grace. I believe this explains quite a bit of what we

• November 15, 2011 2:47 PM Catholic Charities: The Bishop of Springfield Gets it Right By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  “The silver lining of this decision is that our Catholic Charities going forward will be able to focus on being more Catholic and more charitable, while less dependent on government funding

• November 11, 2011 5:02 PM None So Blind: Obedience is an Antidote to Stupidity By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Except with infallible doctrines, obedience is not an infallible safeguard. But it can go a long way toward knocking the stuffing out of us, by which I mean the sheer stupidity we generally fall

• November 09, 2011 12:48 PM Joe Pa, Meet Cardinal Law By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  Nobody knows exactly who is guilty of what in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. In 2002 a graduate assistant coach saw Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy in the showers.

• November 07, 2011 8:44 PM Continuing in Austria: Modernist Abuse of Vatican II By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  If you look at today’s report of new dissidence in Austria, you’ll see yet another example of the Modernist abuse of the Second Vatican Council. Hans Peter Hurka, the leader of the

• November 04, 2011 4:14 PM Pope Paul VI on Vatican II By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  From time to time I still see comments to the effect that the authority of the Second Vatican Council is problematic because Pope Paul VI said it did not promulgate any dogmatic definitions. This

• November 02, 2011 1:10 PM Steve Jobs: A Cure for Restless Hearts? By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  The widespread commentary on what Steve Jobs meant to the world following his death last month was as astonishing as it was vapid. And with all due respect to those who mourned at Apple stores,

• November 01, 2011 4:59 PM Lily: Real Life, Real Literature By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  I agreed to read the Lily Trilogy by Sherry Boas with some misgivings. The promotional literature asserts: “The books have a pro-life thread throughout and also deal with other problems

• October 27, 2011 8:33 PM Violence Religious and Secular By Dr. Jeff Mirus

  The Pope’s address at the interfaith pilgrimage to Assisi today is must reading. In it he identified two main sources of new forms of violence in the world today. Both are particularly apt