How does one present a movie about the life of Genghis Khan? With the often contradictory and questionable biographical material we have, which do you show and which do you gloss over? Those questions, of course, will be answered differently depending upon how much of the Khan’s life you want to show; for Sergei Bodrov, in his 2007 movie Mongol, the answer was clear: show the Khan’s path to ascendancy, and end with the battle that gave to him effective... Read more
Part 1 Part 2 The Council Commences Thomas Canon Pope provides the most generous estimate of the number of prelates invited to participate at the council with 1044.[1] The total number of prelates who attended the Council was 793, by far the largest and most ecumenical council in previous Christian history.[2] It was determined beforehand by the Directing Commission that all bishops with Episcopal sees and all Cardinals of the Church were entitled to sit at the Council. In addition... Read more
Both at home: There are clear gains from having an active market in water rights. It would help solve the problems posed by current water shortages in the West, and it would provide the flexibility necessary to confront the impact of climate change on water supplies in the coming decades. It would be, in a word, fluid. And abroad: The solution for the poorer parts of the Third World is deregulation of the market for piped water, combined with the... Read more
“The final revolution cannot occur unless the Church becomes charged with the energies of the Holy Spirit. By her very nature, the Church cannot sanction any canonized social norm and this is why she acts with the greatest flexibility in regards to local circumstances. Yet, if the Word of God consoles, it also judges. This explains the certain detachment of the Church’s clairvoyant witness. She condemns all compromise and conformism, but her penetrating realism unmasks and confronts the demonic elements.... Read more
A name that has been whispered among the many for Barack Obama’s ticket is Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Nelson is a moderate Democrat, widely respected among Republicans and members of his own party. Nelson is one of four pro-life Democrats currently in the Senate, and he has shown himself to be an unwavering defender of life. He has been endorsed by both the Nebraska Right to Life PAC and Nebraskans United for Life. If he were to be selected as... Read more
It may sound like something out of the Onion, but in fact it’s only Canada: A Canadian court has lifted a 12-year-old girl’s grounding, overturning her father’s punishment for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet, his lawyer said Wednesday. The girl had taken her father to Quebec Superior Court after he refused to allow her to go on a school trip for chatting on websites he tried to block, and then posting “inappropriate” pictures of herself online using... Read more
With it’s embrace of out-of-wedlock birth, some questioned whether Juno was really a pro-life movie. The argument was that just because someone didn’t choose abortion doesn’t mean we should be celebrating their choice. Thanks to our modern age, we now face the question of making these girls (in this case, the choice of girls and not women is intentional) the next poster girls for the pro-life movement. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October after an... Read more
News stories about Africa typically are about war, famine, pestilence, and/or death. But according to a recent article in the Financial Times (reg. required), some underreported trends in the region are more hopeful: The number of armed conflicts has dropped dramatically from over 20 in 1999 to 5 today; for example, long running civil wars in Angola, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have all come to an end. Unnoticed by the media and much of the investment community has been... Read more
Don’t let the simple title fool you. Amazing Grace, a new Catholic blog devoted to literary and spiritual themes, promises to be a witty and intellectually stimulating experience. It’s run out of the London by Grace Andreacchi. Stop by for a change of blogging pace. Read more
The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) has a beautiful tribute to the late Tim Russert on account of his strong support and unyielding promotion of Catholic education in the United States. NCEA has also put up a picture page that contains some candid shots of Russert in action. Also of note is the USCCB Communications Committee’s praise of Russert. Read more
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