I get concerned when I hear people claim Bishops are speaking “outside of their area of competence.” Usually this happens when a Bishop says something about a moral question which has political ramifications. The argument goes: since it has entered into the realm of politics, let the statesman, not the Bishop, declare what they will; a Bishop has no authority here. Yet, because it is related to a moral issue, this ultimately is acting against the true competence of Bishops which... Read more
Horrific news from Zimbabwe. Read more
Oops, he did it again. Fresh from criticizing the US bishops for having the gall to respond to an initiative to discuss the Iraq war from a group of Democrats, the don of First Things restates his case after some criticism from Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida. First things first. Before getting to the core of his argument, Neuhaus lets slip a few snide comments about the bishops. He sarcastically questions whether we should trust them in areas where they have... Read more
John Allen, Jr. informs us that Fr. Peter Phan of Georgetown University, a celebrated theologian in many circles, is having his theology investigated by both the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the U.S. bishops. I ran into Dr. Phan at CTSA a couple years ago, and I am familiar with some of his work on inter-religious dialogue. He’s a genuinely sincere and nice man, but I have never really understood what all the fuss was about among... Read more
One of the most inspiring families I know has figured out how to bring God into their home. When I first met this family, I was their 14 year old babysitter. At the time they had two little boys and a little girl on the way. This family prayed the nightly rosary together. They had thrown away their contraception. They made little sacrifices on Fridays. The mom squeezed in Adoration every two weeks. My first impression was that they were... Read more
Here is the latest from the Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith regarding food and water for patients who cannot eat or drink without help. Document. Read more
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed the disappointing trend in sports lately: steroids controversies in baseball, soccer and cycling (even golf!), espionage in Formula 1 and football, referees betting on basketball games… and these are only the instances that we know of, because they have been “caught in the act.” What about the ongoing cheating in sports that we don’t know about or won’t ever know about? Sports (when enjoyed in moderation) are a great form... Read more
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring, is a beautiful 2003 Korean film directed by Ki-duk Kim film. Deceptively simple, the movie presents to the viewer a modern Buddhist parable about life, the passions, sin, judgment, and redemption. The direction of the film is stunning. The scenery can be awe-inspiring, and yet it never gets in the way of the story. Rather, it always works to further the film’s message. Kim is able to lead the viewer into his synthetic world, one which clearly acts... Read more
Courtesy of Father Richard J. Neuhaus (from the latest First Things): I see that Garry Willis has a new book out, What Jesus Meant. It purports to explain what Jesus meant to say and no doubt would have said had he the advantage of being Garry Willis. Heh. Read more
Apparently, the EU “gets it”: Europe must relax its immigration controls and open the door to an extra 20m workers during the next two decades, the European Union’s justice chief will say on Friday. Franco Frattini, justice commissioner, is to tell the bloc’s immigration ministers in Lisbon that the EU should stop erecting barriers and instead build safe pathways for Africans and Asians who risk their lives heading to the continent to find a job. “We have to look at... Read more
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