Have you ever been in one of those Catholic institutions–maybe a school or hospital where some well meaning, shallow minded sentimentalist has gone through and got rid of all the crucifixes and replaced them with those corny risen Lord crucifixes? Have you ever wondered why you don’t like them much? Well, I’ve figured it out. First of all I don’t like them because they smell like a bit of politically correct maneuvering. Somebody somewhere got the idea that the crucifix... Read more

Mgr. Charles Pope preaches here on the paradox of Christ the King reigning from the cross. Crown him with many crown, but first it is a crown of thorns. So here are two different men. Christ came to call sinners, thieves, if you will. Yes, we are all thieves, that is true. But pray God we are the good thief, the repentant thief, The one thief who is now ready to resubmit himself to the authority of Christ, who is King... Read more

One of things most refreshing about C.S.Lewis was his seeming unconcern about what others thought of him. There’s a whiff of real humility there. He was not worried enough about his career to stop writing religious books or popular science fiction or children’s fairy tales, and he suffered rejection by his peers–not being elected as Professor of Poetry at Oxford despite being the obvious choice. He thought and lived outside the box. He didn’t give two hoots for the opinions... Read more

Go here for the four best Catholic beards…From the article here is the story of St Thomas More’s beard: Henry VIII condemned St. Thomas More to death after he refused to deny papal supremacy. More had been confined in the Tower of London for over a year (hence the beard, and why it’s not pictured). As the executioner lifted his axe, More asked him to wait. The blindfolded saint-to-be carefully laid his beard on the outside of the block, out... Read more

As the Church of England moves to make women bishops it is worth reflecting on the tyrannical pursuit of progress typified by the progressives. This pursuit of progress for its own sake is insidious, dangerous and relentless. It is also intrinsically Protestant. The progressive always needs a noble cause.  Their identity is defined by the struggle. Equality is never achieved. As soon as one victory is celebrated the war councils meet to plan the next campaign. Have women finally been... Read more

The Church of England General Synod has finally voted to allow women bishops. The Daily Telegraph reports here. The main thrust of the argument seems to be that the members of the Church of England didn’t want to feel ‘weird’. During the debate at Church House in London one leading women cleric warned that the failure to agree the issue in the past made them simply look “weird”. During the debate Canon Rosie Harper, chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham,... Read more

For the life of me I have never been able to figure out why scholars make such a big difficulty out of dating the New Testament. On the face of it, the problem is not so difficult, but what we have to do is take things at face value with common sense. Once we get into academic theories about what might have happened it is all a bit like conspiracy theories–in which one scrap of ambiguous evidence may mean that... Read more

…or so says Lord Carey–the former Archbishop of Canterbury in the Daily Telegraph. Carey is an evangelical and so he thinks the only thing that will save the Church of England is happy clappy services and the Alpha Course. The more waspish A.N.Wilson comments sharply here saying that the reason Christianity is dying is because everyone believes fornication is okay and they don’t believe in stuff like the incarnation and the virgin birth and so forth. Even more crazily, Andrew... Read more

Today on the SonRise Morning Show Brian Patrick asked me what the difference was between the national saints of England and the national saints of the United States. Missionaries and martyrs! The saints of North America are all missionaries. Yesterday, for example, St Rose Philippine Duchesne. What a life! She comes to the new world from France, winds up in New Orleans, travels up the river to St Louis where she starts a school in a log cabin. The bishop... Read more