It’s the question that echoes between the lines of mainstream news features about the life and work of Mother Dolores Hart, the cloistered nun (yes, she gave Elvis his first on-screen kiss) who walked away from her promising future in Hollywood. The question, stated simply, is this: Why did she do it? The answer? I’m not really clear on that, but based on reading a number of mainstream press reports on this subject I can say that her decision —... Read more
Being recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church is a difficult process — almost as difficult, apparently, as trying to explain that process in a mainstream new story. I realize that tmatt just wrote an early post on this topic, but, trust me, there’s plenty more coverage out there, complete with new and unique gaffes. Let’s go with round two. So, an official at the Vatican claims that a new miracle has been attributed to the late John Paul... Read more
There has been another development in the canonization case of the Blessed John Paul II, which means it’s time for another round of news stories that — to one degree or another — mangle what Catholics and members of other ancient churches believe about prayer and the saints. Before we get going, here is a handy doctrinal reminder: For Christians, only God can perform miracles. Here’s how Father Arne Panula of the Catholic Information Center here in Washington, D.C., explained... Read more
Where should the stress be placed in Pope Francis’ phrase the “gay lobby”? Upon the first word “gay” or the second, “lobby”? This semantic game animated my discussion this week with Todd Wilken, the host of Lutheran Public Radio’s Issues, Etc program, as we did this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (click here to listen). In our conversation we contrasted The New York Times coverage of Pope Francis’s comments that a gay lobby existed at the Vatican to the coverage in the European and... Read more
Greetings, GetReligion sports fans. Anyone who has been following the news lately knows that the ageless San Antonio Spurs, the heroes of red-zip-code America, face a seventh and deciding NBA Finals game tonight against the Miami Heat, a team symbolizes evil for millions of fans from coast to coast. While much of the saturation-level media attention focuses — naturally — on superstar LeBron James, people who have actually been following the series closely know that one of the keys to... Read more
And now for something completely different. Yes, I am about to praise an article published by The Daily Beast. Yes, I know this is a first-person article, written in a magazine-journalism style. Yes, I know that it is a work of advocacy journalism, one written by a scribe who describes her point of view as that of the “post-religious Americans.” Nevertheless, Hannah Seligson’s “The Me, Me, Me Wedding: How America is exporting its Bridezilla culture” contains all kinds of news... Read more
Yesterday after the House of Representatives voted 228 to 196 to limit abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, I was surprised to find the following headline at the New York Times: Democrats Defend Killing of Viable Fetuses to Appease Vocal Base Only kidding, of course. As Matthew J. Franck of First Things wrote, that’s a New York Times headline we’ll never see. The real headline used exhibits the partisan editorializing we’ve come to expect from the Old Gray Lady: G.O.P.... Read more
Here inside the Beltway, a kind of nervous hush has settled over the church-state battlefield while everyone waits for the U.S. Supreme Court to issue its ruling on the status of gay marriage in the battleground state of California (for sure) and perhaps even in the United States of America. There have been some hints from the legal left that the court will — fearing another Roe v. Wade apocalypse — issue a narrow ruling. Most of the elite mainstream... Read more
I know a maiden fair to see, Take care! She can both false and friendly be, Beware! Beware! Trust her not, She is fooling thee! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s advice about women — especially blondes … And she has hair of a golden hue, Take care! And what she says, it is not true, Beware! Beware! Trust her not, She is fooling thee! … is also good advice in reading headlines. As your GetReligionistas have stressed many times, seldom does a... Read more
So, who has been following the drama that unfolded early this month up in Chicago, where the professional photographers at The Chicago Sun-Times were hit by the roller coaster of digital change earlier this month? To make a long story short, in the age of smartphones and digital video, the management decided to lay off the entire photography staff, award winners and all. Who needs photos better than those that can be shot by reporters and bystanders? Many people in... Read more
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