Commonweal is not a magazine I often read – I guess I’m simply a little more to the right than most of its readers and contributors – but perhaps I should read it more frequently, for these are two exceedingly good pieces that I pass on to you for thoughtful reading. The first, is Jean Hughes Raber’s honest and provocative conversion story, The Bumpy Path to Rome wherein she shares her conversion experiences beyond the usual shiny messages of faith... Read more
Archbishop Charles Chaput had a luncheon give-and-take with an audience of rather unfriendly-sounding folks, and he didn’t much take what they had to give. Or, you might say he gave as good as he got. “Why do (religions) feel they have to impose their views on us?” asked one woman during a spirited question-and-answer session following Chaput’s speech to the City Club of Denver. If we don’t – you’ll impose your views on us,” Chaput shot back to murmurs from... Read more
Via Polipundit. This is sweet. Jon Stewart understands. He moans. But he understands. Stewart: But what do you make of–here’s my dilemma, if you will. I don’t care for the way these guys conduct themselves–and this is just you and I talking, no cameras here [audience laughter]. But boy, when you see the Lebanese take to the streets and all that, and you go, “Oh my God, this is working,” and I begin to wonder, is it–is the way that... Read more
Big surprise, Mary Mapes is shopping a book about Rathergate wherein she’ll tell the REAL story. Prepare yourself for the deluge of publicity the renewal of that “nagging question” regarding President Bush’s TANG service and the always repulsive site of Katie Couric leaning forward to ask one of her intensely serious questions as her eyes spin around in her head like two pinwheels in a storm. Ms. Mapes’ book proposal will include 40 pages of analysis and documentation that she... Read more
I am the luckiest blogger in the world, I think, because the folks who comment, or who email, tend not to be troll-ish or mean (except for whoever sent me that virus, and I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!) and when they do differ with me, they usually do it thoughtfully. One such reader – agnostic – wondered what was so great about Catholicism, and didn’t I think that God – if God exists – would... Read more
Regular readers of The Anchoress would be very surprised to learn this about me: I adore looking at gorgeous clothes.I don’t especially crave ownership. My closet is unimaginative. Lots of Benedictine black and white, some denim, one great grey gown I wore to a brother’s wedding. I hate to shop, and it never occurs to me that I might need more than one pair of shoes (black) and one pair of sneakers. But I do own a red organza dress... Read more
Newsweeks Christopher Dickey makes report that is so odd, I wonder why Newsweek printed it, because it seems terribly unfocused. Reporting on Pope John Paul’s seeming refusal to pack it in, Dickey writes: Even as the aged pope’s body shuts down in the late stages of Parkinson’s disease, his will to live—and to impose his will on the Roman Catholic faithful—remains as stubborn as ever. In the days before he was readmitted to the hospital…the pope insisted on making public... Read more
Well, Russert does sort of have a kind of jowl-y, boppy-cheeked babyishness to his face! Anyway…in a little blurb he threw out to the Catholic News Services, Russert speaks one of the most important messages – perhaps the most important message – of our time. Russert said. “Who are our children? How do we get into their hearts and minds,” Russert asked, “to get them to see the value of our values?” In dealing with his own son, Luke, Russert... Read more
I don’t care how much the press heralds her. I don’t care how well she does when she is “on script.” She has a political tin ear. She has a lesser gift for diplomacy than even I. And that is saying something. Last year, among friends, she declared, “we’re going to have to take some things away from you, for the common good.” Whoops, she didn’t mean for that to get out! Now this. And this. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton... Read more
The story is kind of superstitious and silly but the picture is terrific. I’d forgotten what a robust and healthy looking man JPII was in his prime! Read more
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