First we should get some things clear: Catholics are not misogynistic. We’re not in favor of discrimination. We don’t “hate fags” We don’t think women are dumb and inferior We don’t judge homosexuals just because they’re homosexual. Sure, there may be some Catholics who are female hating, gay bashing bigots. You’ll find people like that in all religions and walks of life. The misguided views of a few people is not the view of the whole, nor is it the... Read more

In Holy Week so many aspects and attributes of the Catholic faith come  thundering in together. This is because the week in our Lord’s life was a summary of all that he was and is and came to accomplish. Today I am in Charleston to share in the Chrism Mass. At this Mass the priests of the Diocese come together to renew their vows in the bishop’s presence. The Mass traditionally takes place on Holy Thursday and is a kind... Read more

Do you remember reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies? A group of civilized English schoolboys are stranded on a desert island and soon turn savage. They form a tribe to hunt, and then their child like fears evolve into a primitive religion. They soon project their anger and frustration on the boys who are oddballs and outsiders. Then they isolate the scapegoat, persecute, cast out and finally destroy him as a sacrifice. This is what human beings do. All around... Read more

My latest article for National Catholic Register asks whether patriarchy is a bad thing and whether you can have Christianity without patriarchs, popes and papas. Modernists would argue that all gender identities are inventions from social circumstances. In other words, what we call a “man” or a “woman” is defined by learned customs and conventional traditions. A little girl is given a doll, a play kitchen and fashion cutouts so she learns to do girly things and identify as a... Read more

This week I went to see Branagh’s Cinderella with my daughter.  It was a delight. I’ll write more on Cinderella and the use of fairy tales later today, but first it occurred to me that the Cinderella story linked up with another news item this week–the departure of a British boy band singer named Zayn Makik from the group One Direction. For those who are not aware, One Direction or 1D–are the latest boy band to sweep the globe with phenomenal success.... Read more

It’s those ten commandments. They’re impossible! Not long ago I had an email correspondence with a man who was divorced and remarried. He asked why the church could not be more “forgiving”. By this I think he meant that he wanted the church to say his second marriage was okay, or maybe he wanted me to say the marriage was okay, that it by living with another woman other than his validly married wife he was not, after all, “living... Read more

Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a new bill which guarantees religious freedom in the state. I am glad for these efforts and agree with what is a very reserved and cautious law–which balances religious freedom with equal rights. But I think it is going to backfire. Here’s why: The issue of “equal rights” in our society is completely free of any form of rational argument. It is a highly emotive issue that is geared in with racism, white privilege, male privilege... Read more