I’m living in England and the parish priest asks me to take a confirmation class. In the group of eighth graders preparing for confirmation, Jimmy was a not one of the brightest stars. He was a bit like vanilla pudding, sweet but thick. So when it came to discussion of the Holy Trinity I wasn’t too optimistic. So I gave some illustrations about the Holy Trinity–St Patrick’s three leaved clover, water, ice and steam, in music, harmony, melody and rhythm.... Read more
Fr Robert Spitzer’s new volume Finding True Happiness: Satisfying Our Restless Hearts (Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence) is excellent. I get umpteen books for review and my policy is, “If the book sits there and I have a desire (not a duty) to read it, then it makes the cut and I’ll read and review it) This is one book that did. I hope to write a more complete review when I’m finished, but one of the great insights comes in the... Read more
My article for Aleteia this week focusses on Pope Francis’ heart of compassion, and how this attractive trait can be both a strength and a seeming weakness. Sick children also draw his compassion, “This breaks my heart.” The pope said, “When I see those creatures I say to the Lord, ‘Why them and not me?’” Likewise, visiting young people in jail makes the pope aware of his own weakness. He always thinks, “‘I could be here.’ In other words, none... Read more
My latest article for the National Catholic Register explores how the Benedict Option I discussed here might be employed at parish level. A “Benedict Option” would undermine clericalism in a positive and creative way. There would be natural renewal of worship, religious education and service based on the needs of the local community rather than top down “good ideas” by diocesan bureaucrats. What might a “Benedict Option” parish look like? The pastor and people would decide priorities based on... Read more
If you want to understand how the liberal Catholic views the world you can do no better than to take a moment to read this piece by Patrick Reardon at the National Catholic Reporter. It’s called “A Church Refreshed: A dispatch from an American Catholic Future.” The adolescent naivety (combined with graying hippie philosophy) of this article is astonishing. Here are a few extracts from Reardon’s American Catholic Never Never Land: Song leader Sophia Santiago stood to the right of the... Read more
Go here for my latest article for CRUX which highlights the rise of men’s conferences, seminars and parish groups in the American Catholic Church. Catholic men are arming themselves for battle. Spiritual battle. Behind the headlines and beneath the radar, a grassroots movement is growing among Catholic men in the United States. Spurred on by the culture wars, they are rallying to conferences, retreats, seminars, and parish study groups that aim to support them in their faith, encourage fellowship, and... Read more
Church of England women priests have joined Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori at a conference with a witch and a man married to a Muslim man. Ruth Gledhill reports here A leading witch and herbalist shared a Church of England platform last night with other women religious leaders including the Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church and Gogglebox tv vicar Rev Kate Bottley. Helene Mobius, who heads the prison chaplain ministry of the Pagan Federation, challenged stereotypes of... Read more
Conservative Catholics bite their nails when connections are made between Marxism and Pope Francis. They’re nervous about the recent beatification of Archbishop Romero because they worry that he was a secret devotee of liberation theology. They’re not very happy with some of Pope Francis’ appointments to his Vatican Fellowship of the Ring–the nine cardinals he has chosen to help him rule the church. Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga is an obvious bete noir. Now they have another Marxist to worry about. Literally. Cardinal... Read more
Edward Pentin reports for National Catholic Register on what seems to be a secret Vatican Conference hosted by Cardinal Reinhard Marx on the topic of same sex marriage, re-married divorced Catholics and “the theology of love” which is to replace Pope St John Paul II’s “theology of the body” A one-day study meeting — open only to a select group of individuals — took place at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Monday with the aim of urging “pastoral innovations” at... Read more
My latest article for Intercollegiate Review explains how to be a creative conservative I know, I know. Conservatives are harsh, judgmental, close-minded, homophobic, misogynist, creationist and fundamentalist Christians who have scrawny girls with buck teeth and meathead boys with zip-up Bibles. I know, I know. Conservatives are all slightly paranoid about “liberals” and are in a perpetual state of nervous readiness. Prepped for the end, they’re secretive and combative. Stop. It’s perfectly reasonable to be conservative, but I would propose... Read more
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
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