President Barack Obama did something on Sept. 19th that caught many in the national press off guard. He went to church. The First Family walked across Lafayette Square Park to St. John’s Episcopal Church, a parish so close to the White House that many call it the “Church of the Presidents.” The Obamas set down front and received Holy Communion. Was this really an important news story? Timing was everything. The Obama family had not occupied a public pew —... Read more
As millions of YouTube viewers know, the “Hallelujah Chorus” is even hotter than usual this year. The wave started with a flash-mob performance by the Opera Company of Philadelphia and hundreds of local choristers. Dressed as shoppers, they sang the best-known anthem from George F. Handel’s “Messiah” oratorio at noon in the downtown Philadelphia Macy’s, which was already decked out for the holidays on Oct. 30th. Then came the Nov. 13th performance that sent this viral-video trend into overdrive, when... Read more
Father Dino Bottino didn’t expect to spark a firestorm several years ago when he delivered his sermon about the true meaning of Christmas. Still, it didn’t take long for outraged parents to leak one crucial statement — that Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, isn’t real — to the Italian press. Headline writers around the world immediately felt a great disturbance in the Holiday Force, as if millions of tiny nonsectarian voices had cried out in terror. Clearly, this... Read more
Editor’s note: There was no “On Religion” column this past week due to the death of Terry Mattingly’s mother, Berta Geraldine Mattingly, in Texas. The following post originally ran at GetReligion.org **** It seems that we are going to see more mainstream coverage of those debates about religious liberty, military chaplains and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” So let’s back up and note a few basic fact, some of which were handled quite well in that CNN.com report that I praised... Read more
As every avid Twitter user knows, there are only 140 characters in a “tweet” and that includes the empty spaces. The bishops gathered at the ancient Council of Nicea didn’t face that kind of communications challenge and, thus, produced an old-fashioned creed that in English is at least 1,161 characters long. No wonder so many of the gray-haired administrators in black suits in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops struggle with life online. It’s hard to take seriously the frivolous-sounding... Read more
Few images of John Lennon are as iconic as that of the ex-Beatle playing a white piano in a white room, gazing into the camera lens while singing “Imagine.” “Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living for today,” said Lennon, in the anthem that for many defined his life. “Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and... Read more
When it comes to liturgical details, the Vatican has clear guidelines about sacred objects that are blessed for use during a Mass. “The Church has always sought,” notes the Book of Blessings, “to ensure that all those things that are involved in any way in divine worship should be worthy, becoming and beautiful. … Those objects that through a blessing are set aside for divine worship are to be treated with reverence by all and to be put only to... Read more
In the beginning, there was the multimedia superstar Glenn Beck summoning his Tea Party congregation to a faith-friendly “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall. And behold, two postmodern prophets witnessed this media storm and decided that it was good. In response, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central organized their pre-election “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” Colbert, a progressive Catholic Sunday school teacher who pretends to be a right-wing blowhard, provided the fake “fear” factor. In his... Read more
If Texas Baptists had a patron saint, the Rev. George W. Truett would almost certainly get the nod. So it was a solemn occasion when the great preacher from Dallas arrived in “Jerusalem on the Brazos” in 1941 to preach a series of revival services at Baylor University, the planet’s largest Baptist institution of higher learning. Then loud alarm clocks started ringing in the attic of cavernous Waco Hall, on three-minute intervals. This pandemonium was, of course, orchestrated by Baylor’s... Read more
The setting: The office of a priest who serves as a military chaplain. The time: This hypothetical encounter occurs soon after the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that forbids gays, lesbians and bisexuals to openly serve in America’s armed forces. The scene: An officer requests counseling about tensions with her same-sex partner as they prepare for marriage. The priest says this would be inappropriate, since his church teaches that sex outside of marriage is sin and that... Read more
Terry Mattingly
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