Pelagius famously made St Augustine furious by quoting the works of St Augustine and using them to claim Augustine as being in agreement with him. Augustine, of course, responded – and the response, as we know, was Augustine’s crusade against the Pelagians. Such, I expect, is also the case with Pope Benedict and many online Catholics. They have convinced themselves that Benedict is trying to move the Church forward by having it return to pre-Vatican II ways. Of course Benedict... Read more
The stadium at 4am. Yes, it was a very long day. I was there for 12 hours. (more…) Read more
What a homily proclaimed today by our Holy Father! A message filled with hope, renewal, patriotism and acknowledgment of past failings. What I found particularly moving was the manner in which Pope Benedict XVI, confirming Catholics in America in their faith and calling them to “live different lives,” called us to “look to the future” while keeping awareness of the glory and the shame of our past. Undeniably so, the Pope’s words were meant to prompt us forward as witnesses... Read more
At the Papal Mass in Washington DC, those who attended the service were told something unusual: stand up during the consecration. That’s right, the people who claim the Pope is wanting to bring back the old traditions are right. The Pope is indeed trying to take the church back! The Pope wants us to go back, back before the council of Trent, back before the schism, back to Nicea, where the command was to celebrate the liturgy in joy — standing up. (more…) Read more
One often hears it said, in justification or support of a given policy, that if it saves even one life, it will have been worth it. I don’t happen to subscribe to this view (at least in all cases), but it does have a kind of moral earnestness about it that I admire. I wonder sometimes, though, to what extent people really mean it, and to what extent it is just a slogan. For example, in the last ten years... Read more
I’m rarely ever one to link to scandalous news stories, but this one is truly shocking. At least let it remind us that there is a rival culture of death out there, full of persons desperately in need of our prayers and evangelization: Art major Aliza Shvarts [Yale] ’08 wants to make a statement. Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as... Read more
1. The Pope hasn’t gotten out of the bedrooms of good Catholics and claimed birth control is good. 2. The Pope hasn’t ended the discrimination against homosexuals that wish to marry. 3. The Pope hasn’t ended the discrimination against women who want to be priests. 4. The Pope hasn’t stopped repressing priests from freely engaging their natural desires, e.g. allowing them to marry. 5. The Pope hasn’t stepped on the authority of the various bishops around the U.S. for a... Read more
I’ve said it many times, but I think this point needs re-stating now that the pope is in the United States: it is both meaningless and counterproductive to use the (flawed) American political divisions in the Catholic context. But we see this all the time, especially through the media, but also among Catholics. Just look at the bevy of papal stories over the past few days. The pope is too conservative. But, no, conservatives have been disappointed by the pope.... Read more
Michael Novak seems to think the last two Popes were speaking more pro forma when they denounced the wars waged by the United States in Iraq. Stuart Reid over at the American Conservative hit it on the head, (“Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Novak?”), pointing out the amazing inconsistency (or, not so amazing) in Novak personally, energetically having tried to rally the troops to approve of the Iraq war, yet now passing off the Pope’s criticisms as... Read more
“Que Dios bendiga a España. Que Dios bendiga a todos los españoles con la concordia y la comprensión mutuas, con la prosperidad y la paz.” – Pope John Paul II, Madrid, Spain (1982) “God bless Canada!” – Pope John Paul II, Address to Governor General of Canada (1986) “¡Que Dios bendiga a Venezuela!” – Pope John Paul II, Caracas, Venezuela (1996) “¡Nicaragua! ¡Nicaragua de María! ¡Que la Purísima te proteja! ¡Que Dios te bendiga!” – Pope John Paul II, Managua... Read more
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