A dear friend of mine, when faced with anti-Catholic bigotry expressed her bewilderment and said quite simply, “I don’t think I hate any religion, but I like Islam the least.” It is hard to remain calm and open minded about Islam. What I find difficult is the stupidity of some Muslims. Some time ago there were violent Muslim riots when someone suggested that Islam was not actually a religion of peace. Duuh. Now in this article we read that the... Read more

  We have Curt Jester to thank for these shapshots of Catholic liturgy. A friend and fellow convert called me last week just about at his wits’ end with the music in his parish. Three ancient crones with one guitar squawking out the latest goofy song as a recessional, “We can make a difference…we can make a difference in the world.” “I can’t stand it anymore” said my friend. “The music is awful. Just awful. Combine that with the fact... Read more

Here’s an amusing piece by a Church of England vicar on the idiocy of the church becoming politically correct. Read more

In 1987, as a young Anglican priest, I had three months free between jobs and decided to hitch hike to Jerusalem from England, staying in monasteries along the way. One day, traveling through France a lift dropped me in the city of Tournus. I hadn’t planned to stop there for any particular reason, but enjoyed poking around the town, and went into the church, which, as I remember was not very promising from the outside. Inside it was the most... Read more

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Kate (Kitty) Jefferts-Schori has come out swinging against those who are against the trend of the Episcopal Church becoming a gay-lesbi-trans religious sect. You can read the whole story here. In response to the Diocese of San Joaquin’s withdrawal from the Protestant denomination, Kitty has inhibited the Diocesan bishop from all priestly and episcopal functions. He’s taking no notice. Neither is the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Funny how those who blame the Catholic Church for being autocratic and... Read more

Fr Ray of St Mary Magdalene, Brighton on boring preachers. What I don’t get is this: when you’re up there preaching you can see the people. You can tell if they’re sleeping. You can actually see when they are bored to tears. Why then, do preachers week in and week out continue to preach poorly and too long? My take on it is this: there is no correct length for a homily. For a good preacher thirty minutes is too... Read more

A commenter on an earlier post asked me my opinion of the women priests in the Anglican Church as I worked with them. Were they sillier or more radical or more whatever than the male priests? One of the interesting findings about the women priests in the Church of England was that they are more theologically liberal than their male counterparts. Women priests were more likely to be liberal in their views of Christian morality as well. This is based... Read more

I watched the newest Die Hard movie the other night and realized that the hero, John McCain is running for president. Then I stopped and listened a bit harder: whoops, the Bruce Willis character is John McClane, not McCain. Nevertheless, the comparison is apt. John McCain is campaigning for the Republican nomination as a hard guy. The Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war is here in South Carolina this week giving the impression that he is tough. Pictured next to... Read more

Damian Thompson reports on an article about the Archbishop of Westminster’s ecumenical officer (and famous convert maker) Fr Michael Seed. In passing he mentions the Anglican women priests who have converted to the Catholic faith. They said they were fed up with being treated shabbily by their fellow Anglicans. Read more

Daily Telegraph blogger Andrew Gimson thinks Americans are more polite than Brits. Brits have become yobbish, drunken, self centered louts while Americans are well mannered, articulate, considerate and kind. He expresses exactly what I experienced on moving back to USA from England last year. Joseph Pearce is our neighbor here in Greenville. He is married to an American. I’m married to an Englishwoman. We meet often, and our dinner engagements are full of fireworks as we debate such issues. Of... Read more