The Biden-Communion Controversy is Ramping Up

May 4, 2021 By Brian Fraga

The controversy is intensifying head of next month’s U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting, when it is expected that the bishops will at least discuss a document regarding “Eucharistic coherence” vis a vis Catholic politicians who support legal abortion. The latest development is the new pastoral letter written by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco that emphasizes “those who reject the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of human life and those who do not seek to live in accordance... Read more

Catholics Should Have Nothing to do with Know-Nothings

May 2, 2021 By Brian Fraga

The Know-Nothings will always turn on you. Someone on Catholic Twitter made that cogent observation a couple of weeks ago when news broke that the controversial Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Q-Anon sympathizer, was pushing a new “America First Caucus” with nativist overtones in its manifesto. In case you forgot, Greene – who is not Catholic – a week or two prior had just been interviewed by EWTN Newsnightly, which produced a sympathetic segment that made a woman who... Read more

Links: The Best in Catholic Media This Week

May 1, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Top stories this week in the Catholic press Read more

Peter Kreeft on EWTN: Muslims are “Conquering” Europe Through Their Mothers

April 30, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Longtime Boston College philosophy professor Peter Kreeft recently appeared on Raymond Arroyo’s EWTN show and made some eye-opening comments about Muslims that skew closely to a white nationalist trope that white people are being “replaced” through demographics. “The Muslims tried to conquer Europe by the force of arms a number of times. They always failed. Now they’re doing it by a much more powerful force—namely, mothers—and they’re succeeding,” Kreeft says early on in his segment with Arroyo. Kreeft – who... Read more

Catholic Reactions to Joe Biden’s Speech to Joint Session of Congress

April 29, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Joe Biden, only the second Catholic to serve as President of the United States, last night addressed a joint session of Congress just shy of his 100th day in office. Biden, a Democrat, articulated an ambitious governing agenda of sweeping social programs aimed at ensuring equal pay for women, expanding and strengthening the ability of labor unions to organize, bolster voting rights, reform the nation’s immigration system, ban so-called assault weapons and reform policing in the wake of the murder of... Read more

Anonymous $4.25 Million Donation To Establish “Project for Constitutional Originalism” at Catholic University of America

April 28, 2021 By Brian Fraga

This is something that could raise some eyebrows. The Catholic University of America announced this week that its Columbus School of Law has received a $4.25 million – from a donor only described as “an anonymous trust” – to establish The Project for Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. The CUA press release says the project is “intended to create an intellectual center for the study of how the United States Constitution’s original, distinctly American vision of ensuring the... Read more

Back in the Headlines: Father James Altman

April 27, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Father James Altman, the controversial Wisconsin priest who made headlines last fall for appearing in a slickly-produced video warning Catholics that they risked eternal damnation for supporting Democrats, is back in the news this week, this time for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. The LaCross Tribune also reports that Father Altman, the pastor of St. James the Less Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has been presiding over largely maskless liturgies. Via the Tribune: A community member... Read more

Bishop Joseph Strickland and COVID-19 vaccines

April 26, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, is often in the headlines for his relatively unyielding stance on COVID-19 vaccines, but he has been speaking out on the issue for for well over a year now, going back to when he wrote a letter dated April 23, 2020 to the Catholic faithful in his diocese. “As the world battles the coronavirus and marches toward a vaccine or cure, the ugly culture of death is exposing itself in an even more serious way,”... Read more

Bishop Robert Barron and Critical Race Theory

April 23, 2021 By Brian Fraga

Bishop Robert Barron, the well-known auxiliary of Los Angeles who founded the Word on Fire media apostolate, went on Reddit this week for his third AMA, “Ask Me Anything.” The bishop responded to all sorts of questions related to faith, pop culture and theology, among other topics. It was his response to a question about racism and critical race theory that caught my attention – and that elicited some heated responses on Catholic Twitter. “I completely subscribe to the... Read more

Catholic Responses to Derek Chauvin’s Conviction

April 21, 2021 By Brian Fraga

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, individual bishops, Catholic organizations and agencies were among those who issued statements responding to yesterday’s news that a Minneapolis jury convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of all charges related to the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. A roundup of statements: USCCB “As we receive this result, we recall that God is the source of all justice, love, and mercy. The death of George Floyd highlighted and amplified the deep need to... Read more