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All Catholic commentary from June 2018
Dangerous! Both religious exclusion and religious common cause
In my essay “Time to give the lie to a culture in denial?”, I suggested that we need to take seriously that Christianity is publicly revealed by God. Such seriousness is necessary to challenge one of the most deeply cherished and incontrovertibly false assumptions of our contemporary...
Actiones Nostras, Direct Our Actions, Lord—Our Daily Prayer As We Exit the Upper Room
In my last post (my dear Theophilus...) the Church was concluding Lent and entering into Holy Week. I mentioned that migraines and eye problems were interfering with computer and writing time. The problems improved in time for my “busy season” at school and the atrium and the extra...
A ‘personal relationship with Jesus Christ’
It’s easy to impose our own prejudices in evaluating our relationship with God. When we are asked if we truly have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” the expression suggests an emotional, warm, intimate feeling of the encounter. Of course, as Catholics, we may easily...
Will Pope Francis now discourage “discerning away” impediments to Communion?
The latest letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the German bishops may mark an important shift in the way Pope Francis is handling impediments to the reception of Holy Communion. In broad terms, the same fundamental issue lies at the heart of both the widespread desire to...
Episode 5: Hospital Dreams—Chris Baker
One of the most creative rock bands around today is Virginia-based indie trio The Duskwhales. Drummer/singer Chris Baker joins me to talk about their new EP, Hospital Dreams, a set of...
Parody-Is-Dead Department: Case 8,403
Father Michael Pfleger, the firebrand activist, is perhaps Chicago’s leading voice for gun control. Henry Eugene Hale, who has regularly accompanied Father Pfleger to political rallies, is a security guard—although the Chicago archdiocese insists that he is not the priest’s...
The Vatican in disarray
The past few weeks have brought several positive signs from Rome: The Chilean bishops resigned as a group after meeting with Pope Francis, thereby raising hopes that the Holy Father is finally following up strong statements with strong action against bishops who cover up abuse. In a talk...
Redemption and Salvation in the Psalms
If so many different kinds of suffering are the subject of prayer in the Psalms*, it is impossible not to wonder how salvation is perceived by their authors. Is the saving power of the LORD invoked for personal health and prosperity in this life, for the ultimate freedom and peace of the Jewish...
Commonweal’s courageous willingness to stand with the 95% majority
In a Commonweal editorial, urging Pope Francis to “revisit” (that is, scrap) Humanae Vitae, Paul Baumann quotes the same magazine’s words from 1967: “What matters is choosing that course which best serves the Christian and human good, not that course which promises to enhance or diminish the...
Did the Pope ask oil companies to do the impossible?
In an address to oil-company executives, Pope Francis said that “the more than one billion people without electricity today need to gain access to it.” It’s hard to disagree with that, right? Then the Pope continued: “But that energy should also be clean, by a reduction in the systematic use of...
An Australian archbishop’s dangerous approach to defending the confessional seal
Calling for reconsideration of the appalling legislation that would call upon priests to break the confessional seal, Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra writes: “Priests are bound by a sacred vow to maintain the seal of confession.” Wait. That’s wrong— perhaps even dangerously wrong. A...
Episode 6: 150 Years of Holy Preaching—Fr. John Maria Devaney, O.P.
The Dominicans have just celebrated the 150-year jubilee of their ministry on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Fr. John Maria Devaney, OP, host of the Order’s Word to Life program...
Refuse to breathe thin air: Know the source of your convictions, challenge others on the source of theirs
I’ve written recently about the deliberate exclusion of informed religious faith as an influence in the political and social life of the West (see “Time to give the lie to a culture in denial” and “Dangerous! Both religious exclusion and religious common cause”)....
Again, a prelate tainted by the scandal retains a prestigious Vatican post
The Vatican reports that all members of the Council of Cardinals, except for Cardinal Pell, were present at this week’s meeting. Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz is a member of the Council of Cardinals. And sure enough Cardinal Errazuriz participated in the meeting, which in turn...
Just Call Me Jerry
With the Ascension of Christ to heaven—the departure of his identifiable physical presence—and with the descent of the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes accessible to us only by faith. Through faith, we come to know Jesus in the Word of God. Through faith, we encounter Jesus in the...
The perfectly legitimate public authority of the Church
In the first three essays in this series, I have been arguing against our modern cultural prejudice that all religions are essentially the same, that they are all merely different forms of a personal and private sentiment. Though it may not always have been obvious, I have been probing the nature...
Hope at New York University?
The history of the Dominican Order in New York is fascinating and uplifting—as recounted by Fr. John Maria Devaney to Thomas V. Mirus in last week’s Catholic Culture Podcast (listen to 150 Years of Holy Preaching). One of several memorable highlights was the service to those suffering...
Episode 7: Inflation Is a Sin—Guido Hülsmann
It would not occur to most of us to imagine that monetary policy has a moral component. Catholic prelates are as silent about matters like fiat money, central banking and inflation and as are the...
Our Summer Plans and Work in Ordinary Time
Two weeks ago it was the first time since February 11 (the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time) that the priest wore green liturgical vestments on Sunday. After Pentecost, the Church resumed the count of the weeks of Ordinary Time, picking up at the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, but the first two...
How did Cardinal McCarrick’s secret last so long?
At least fifteen years ago, I wrote a confidential email message to a few trusted friends, telling them to brace themselves. Within a few days, I said, a major secular newspaper would break a sensational story about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. To my surprise, the newspaper never ran the...
Does Pope Francis read his mail?
Speaking about the dubia in his latest interview, Pope Francis told the Reuters news service that he learned about the four cardinals’ questions “from the newspapers.”
When they released the dubia to the public, in November 2016, the four cardinals reported that they had
Abortion vs. Immigration: Don’t take the bait.
It is already happening, and it gives us a bad name. Hearing of the widespread denunciation among our bishops of President Trump’s (now discarded) policy to separate children from their migrant parents at the Mexican border, a certain number of Catholics who read CatholicCulture.org are...
The immigration debate: a plague on both houses
Now that President Trump has signed an executive order ending the separation of families by immigration agents, I hope that one of the most appalling political arguments in recent American history will come to an end. But I doubt it. I suspect the argument will continue, because both sides are...
Cardinal McCarrick’s faulty memory
As he revealed that he had been accused of sexual abuse, Cardinal McCarrick made an interesting protestation of innocence: “While I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse…” The accusation, which a review board found credible, occurred almost fifty years ago,...
One year later, still no auditor
One year ago today, the Vatican’s auditor general abruptly resigned. The Vatican gave no explanation for his departure, but said that a replacement would be found “as soon as possible.” He still hasn’t been replaced. His departure still hasn’t been...
If ‘everybody knew’ about Cardinal McCarrick, the corruption runs deep
Now at last the truth about Cardinal McCarrick’s misconduct has become public knowledge. If my email traffic is any indication, many more stories will soon emerge. But Rod Dreher drives right to the central point in his follow-up column, entitled “Cardinal McCarrick: Everybody...
The futile quest for Vatican transparency
In a wide-ranging interview, Reuters reports, Pope Francis “was concerned that ‘there is no transparency’ in the Vatican’s real-estate holdings...” The Vatican’s real-estate holdings are managed by APSA: the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic...
Yes, it’s ‘child pornography,’ but the victims were teenagers
What word would you use to describe boys between the ages of 14 and 17? Ordinarily I’d call them teenagers. Wouldn’t you? When the Vatican announced the conviction of Msgr. Carlo Capella, the term used was “children.” The former Vatican diplomat was found guilty of...
Proverbs, read spiritually
It is time, in this series on the books of the Bible, to take a quick look at Proverbs. I also did this back in early 2016, but the purpose then was simply to pluck some of the proverbs that had particularly struck me during my reading in January of that year (see A few pointed remarks (from...
Episode 8: How to Stop Public Porn—Abriana Chilelli
Abriana Chilelli had to drive her children past a lewd strip club advertisement every day on their way home from school in downtown Denver. But instead of taking a fatalistic attitude and a detour,...
Celebrating the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
This post is from the archives. It was originally published June 29, 2016: June 29 is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. This is a holyday of obligation in most countries (but not in the United States). This is major holiday in Rome, with schools, shops and banks closed. The day is...
Daily Mass attendance: is there an upward trend?
It’s happening again. At the little chapel in the abbey where we go every day, it’s become difficult for late arrivals to find an empty pew at the early-morning Mass. You understand, I’m not saying that the chapel is completely full. The pews fit four adults comfortably,...
APSA appointment is another false step on Vatican financial accountability
John Allen of Crux writes that the appointment of Bishop Nunzio Galantino as new head of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) is “the most reassuring and also the riskiest move we’ve seen from the pontiff in some time.” I agree with 50% of that assessment. The move is...
Reading the Fine Print for the Liturgical Calendar (Part 1)
Was anyone else a little surprised by the celebration of the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist this past Sunday? After I mentioned how there will be six months of monotonous green Sundays, the very next Sunday was a solemnity. After Mass, members of...
The neglected root of the Church sex-abuse scandal
Two new episodes in the festering sex-abuse scandal have called attention to a facet of the problem that has long been understood (at least by some analysts), but routinely neglected if not actively suppressed: the connection between sexual abuse of young people and a widespread homosexual culture...
The Germans on intercommunion: Joke, or mere absurdity?
The story we picked up from OnePeterFive on the new German “guidelines” for intercommunion reads like a parody. Frankly, I’m wondering if it is. If you click through our summary to the story on which it is based, you’ll see what seems to be a very dodgy effort by the...
The Protomartyrs of Rome: Remembering Our Firsts
This Saturday, June 30, is the Optional Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. This is a relatively newer feast, created in the 1969 reform of the General Roman Calendar. Vatican II called for a reform of the General Calendar;
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