Fear and Loathing in 1984: Why Catholics Must Oppose Trump’s Immigration Policy

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 4:23 pm By Melinda Selmys

One of the most frustrating things over the past couple of days has been watching leaders within the pro-life movement offering arguments for why, basically, we can ignore the statements that Pope Francis and the USCCB have made concerning the dangers of immigration policies informed by isolationism, nationalism and religious intolerance. The problem is not that I think every casual statement made by a Pope or a Bishop’s council ought to have the stamp of law: there is definitely room... Read more

The Measure of a Life: In Memory of My Sister

Last updated on: January 30, 2017 at 1:38 pm By Melinda Selmys

Last week was the 10th anniversary of my sister Kristen’s death. I wrote a piece for Aleteia talking about what her death taught me about the value of life. You can read it here. Image credit: Kristen with my infant daughter sleeping on her back. Used with permission of my family. Stay in touch! Like Catholic Authenticity on Facebook: Catholic Authenticity Read more

The Art of Being Overwhelmed

Last updated on: January 16, 2017 at 1:16 pm By Melinda Selmys

A lot of you are probably aware of the “spoon theory” of chronic illness. For those who aren’t, the idea is that if you are chronically ill, you have a limited (usually fairly low) number of spoons that you can spend in order to perform actions, and you have to carefully steward which things you choose to spend them on. It’s a model that I’ve always found a little odd, since unless you know the story about how the theory... Read more

Scripture Has Nothing New To Say to Me

Last updated on: January 11, 2017 at 8:13 pm By Melinda Selmys

Recently I was talking to a friend about various difficulties in the spiritual life, and one of the issues that came up is the idea that reading Scripture is infinitely rewarding – that every time you return to it you will find new insights. His basic complaint was that this isn’t necessarily true: especially living (as he does) as a religious, you encounter the same texts over and over again and sometimes it just feels like going over the same... Read more

Gender Dysphoria: My Talk from Q Denver

Last updated on: January 9, 2017 at 1:20 pm By Melinda Selmys

My talk from last year’s Q conference is currently featured on their web-site. The main page also links to Mark Yarhouse’s talk and our Q&A session. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Read more

When a Yes or No Question is Not a Yes or No Question

Last updated on: December 6, 2016 at 11:16 am By Melinda Selmys

I’ve mostly said what I have to say about the dubia, but there is one more aspect of the problem that I want to comment on because it pertains to a broader habit that I’ve encountered a number of times over my years as a blogger: the “clear yes or no, please,” trap. Why do I call it a trap? I mean, assuming Francis is orthodox, shouldn’t he be able to simply affirm the doctrine that the four Cardinals refer... Read more

Tradition Unbound – Part II

Last updated on: December 5, 2016 at 4:34 pm By Melinda Selmys

Last time on Catholic Authenticity, we were talking about development of doctrine, specifically in reference to the fear that many conservatives have that Pope Francis is undermining eternal, changeless Church teaching in an unprecedented way. A lot of this fear seems to stem from an unduly rigid sense of how doctrine ought to be promulgated, taught, and applied. It’s a fear that I can well understand: I remember the first time that I realized that development of doctrine can actually... Read more

An Immodest Proposal

Last updated on: December 2, 2016 at 2:10 pm By Melinda Selmys

Rebecca Bratten Weiss has recently written a post about modesty culture. This is an area of Catholic morality that I’ve thought about a lot over the years. Partly because I’m a mother with daughters. Partly because I’m a woman who tends to wear male clothes and hang out with guys in male-dominated spaces – which means that I have more access (and more sympathetic access) to male perspectives than the majority of feminist women. The first thing that I want... Read more

Tradition Unbound: How the Pope Changed The Church’s Theology of Marriage

Last updated on: December 1, 2016 at 3:35 pm By Melinda Selmys

The controversy over the treatment of communion for the divorced and remarried in Amoris Leatitia has been rekindled recently as a result of the publication of five dubia by a group of Cardinals who seem to be concerned that Pope Francis is changing doctrine. A lot of people seem to be really disturbed and upset by what they see as a discontinuity between the teaching of John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio, and the teaching of Francis in Amoris Leatitia.... Read more

In My Greek City State…

Last updated on: December 1, 2016 at 9:24 am By Melinda Selmys

We have a game at our house that we occasionally play as part of our homeschool curriculum called “In My Greek City State.” The rules are fairly straightforward: everyone is given an imaginary polis that they can run however they want. They get to make up laws, invent an economic system, design the government, and basically create a utopia. Then everyone else (mostly the parents) gets to point out the practical limitations of a system in which a perfect and... Read more