Auguste Meyrat: U.S. Senator Josh Hawley argues that a life of virtue is the path to true happiness. This is what Aristotle called for in the Nicomachean Ethics and was developed further in the Christian tradition. It’s no secret that men in the 21st century are going through a collective crisis. Fewer of them attend college, work a […]
Fr. Gerald E. Murray: Liberalism is gaining the upper hand in the Church because Pope Francis is ignoring the mortal threat that it is. The Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, recently authorized priests in his archdiocese to confer ceremonial blessings upon homosexual couples. Strangely, he also announced that he himself would not impart such blessings until he receives […]
Anthony Esolen: We are witnessing the complete societal dismissal of any norms regarding sexual behavior between consenting adults, and the refusal to own up to the consequences in human misery. So the Catholic, trying hard to be faithful in a faithless time, is now to be dismissed – according to a Certain Person in Rome – for […]
Msgr. Charles Fink wonders how much of what is deemed racism in our society is really only a matter of feeling more at home among those with whom we are most familiar. My grandfather was what might be called an old-world gentleman. He dressed in a shirt and tie for work, even into old age when […]
David Carlin: Our contemporary liberal progressives may be unaware of their kinship with Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and other mass murderers. Nonetheless the kinship exists. The only time I listen to the radio nowadays is when I’m in my car; and, since being retired, I’m not often in my car, it turns out that I don’t […]
John M. Grondelski: If America becomes too secular, can our system of government – one “made for a moral and religious people” – survive? In a recent column, “God and Caesar Today,” I raised the question of whether the Christian division of “things of Caesar” and “things of God” still made sense. We live in a […]
What’s to be learned from a man who died 1600 years ago, in a time and place so different from our own that it takes a serious effort – of imagination as well as study — to understand what he was all about? Today is the Feast of St. Augustine – and also my late […]
H.W. Crocker III: You want a restoration of America? You want more faithful, patriotic Americans? You want a happier America? Emulate Robert E. Lee. Do you remember “good ole boys”? They liked fast cars, long-legged women, and ballcaps with Confederate battle flags. I certainly do – and I grew up in California. In the 1990s, I […]
How to Lose a War David Carlin: If we elect not to defend the teaching on homosexuality that dates back to the Age of the Apostles, and even earlier into Jewish tradition, the faith our descendants inherit will be no more than a shadow of the Catholic faith handed down by the Apostles. If you’re […]
Robert Royal: Cardinal Mueller has confirmed that, while he ran the Vatican doctrinal office, there was a file on Victor Manuel Fernández, soon to take over Mueller’s former post, and, on the basis of Fernández’s view of recent Catholic history, it’s no wonder. There’s an old philosophical distinction about conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient to make something true. […]
Francis X. Maier: The tech revolution has undermined literacy, the supernatural, and sexuality, as it boosted consumer appetites and eroded habits of responsible ownership and mature political participation. Print literacy and the ownership of property anchor human freedom. Both can be abused, of course. Printed lies can kill. Owning things, and wanting more of them, can […]
Anthony Esolen: Gratifying work of Catholic restoration in art is going on in our midst, though Francis seems not to be aware of it, because he hangs around with people like Andres Serrano. Shepherds should smell like the sheep, says Pope Francis. I do not know what Andres Serrano smells like. I can make a good […]
John M. Grondelski: The ethic of radical freedom says Adam’s and Eve’s “disobedience” was a free choice and, therefore, it’s God, not they, who sinned, punishing them for choosing freely. But this is neither Judaism nor Christianity. For most Americans, the Fourth of July is a celebration of American “freedom.” Freedom is an iconic word for us. […]
David G. Bonagura, Jr.: If Catholic schools want to end racism, they don’t need more diverse authors and perspectives. They need more theology faithful to the Magisterium – this is the essence of Catholic education. Afriend – a professor at a leading Catholic university – was one of only two members of the faculty senate not […]
Brad Miner reviews a new film about human trafficking – of children. It’s one reason why we know God’s plan includes Hell. Had this been a poorly executed film, I’d have been tempted to praise it anyway because it’s about the criminal and sinful practice of kidnapping children and selling them as sex slaves. . […]