The Catholic right is totally wrong on debt

Last updated on: August 15, 2012 at 2:28 pm By Morning's Minion

For decades now, at least since William F. Buckley’s high-profile dissent over the teachings of Pope John XXIII, Catholics on the right have attempted to take the practical high ground over the moral high ground. Catholic social teaching means well, they would say, but the Church doesn’t really understand how economies work, and so should really take a back seat on these issues. But with every passing year, the wisdom of Catholic teaching on economics becomes more apparent (and for my friends on... Read more

On The Feast of the Assumption

Last updated on: August 15, 2012 at 8:49 am By Mark Gordon

From my new book, Forty Days, Forty Graces, available in print and Kindle versions at Amazon. At the center of salvation history stands a simple Jewish peasant girl. As the Old Testament began with the story of Eve, the New Testament begins with the story of Mary, the New Eve, mother of the New Adam. She is the Theotokos, the God-Bearer, Ark of the New Covenant. She is the first Christian, and the mother of the Church, which is the... Read more

Don’t know much about economics

Last updated on: August 14, 2012 at 4:22 pm By Morning's Minion

Not so long ago, Republicans used to portray themselves as sober, economic realists. They knew how the economy worked. When you actually dug down, however, it turns out this was really a big bluff – or more accurately, a decades-long “long con”. Their solutions never really boosted the productivity of the economy, but made it vastly more unstable and more unequal. To be fair, it took a long time to figure this out in its entirety. But they still managed... Read more

Authority and Irrelevance

Last updated on: August 12, 2012 at 3:04 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

From the conclusion of Souls and Bodies: The Birth Control Controversy and the Collapse of Confession by Leslie Woodcock Tentler (in Crisis of Authority in Catholic Modernity, Lacey and Oakley, eds. 2011): Authority, however, can be undermined in multiple ways. Refusing to engage in honest dialogue, keeping silent when social developments cry out for a wise and nuanced response–such things condemn an institution to irrelevance. Irrelevant institutions, by definition, lack authority. When it comes to sex, I very much fear,... Read more

Being Pro-Life: Rhetoric Versus Reality

Last updated on: August 10, 2012 at 4:07 pm By Morning's Minion

I wanted to draw attention to an excellent article by Nicholas Cafardi on the issue of pro-life rhetoric versus practice. I’ve been grumbling for years that Republicans don the pro-life mantle for political purposes, and quickly toss it away when they are in positions of power. But people still insist on judging the issue by rhetoric rather than actions. Cafardi really shines a bright light on this when discussing the relative pro-life stance between Obama and Romney. Let’s get this... Read more

Blessed Franz Jaggerstatter, Pray for Us

Last updated on: August 9, 2012 at 9:43 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

Update: oops! I was tired and led astray by an email I got sent. This actually did happen five years ago. The story was be recirculated on the anniversary of his execution by the Nazis. My apologies! Today, the Holy Father confirmed that Franz Jaggerstatter, the humble Austrian farmer who defied the Nazis, is to be beatfied. A brief summary of his witness: As the Nazis organized Austria, Jägerstätter had to decide whether to allow himself to be drafted by... Read more

Who are the “Catholics for Romney” co-chairs?

Last updated on: August 8, 2012 at 11:30 am By Morning's Minion

This ia a follow-up to yesterday’s post. Obviously, Catholics for Romney is trying to establish its credentials by having six former ambassadors to the Vatican as its co-chairs. But let’s look behind this curtain. Five out of six were chosen by Republican presidents, and so would be expected to lean Republican. But many are more than casual sympathizers. One is associated with the Heritage Foundation. One is heavily active in the GOP and was a “Bush ranger”. Another, Mary Ann... Read more

The weak arguments of “Catholics for Romney”

Last updated on: August 7, 2012 at 3:57 pm By Morning's Minion

I’ve just seen the Catholics for Romney group, chaired by seven previous ambassadors to the Vatican. I can only assume that they hope the names can provide the gravitas that is sorely lacking in the substance of the argument! From my perspective, a vote for Romney is simply non-negotiable. To be clear, I am under no illusions about Obama either. In some senses, he has been a great disappointment. I’m referring mainly to his foreign policy which seems to place little... Read more

Vocations to Women’s Religious Orders

Last updated on: August 7, 2012 at 3:27 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

A very interesting article and commentary has just appeared at America Magazine and I want to begin by thanking them for keeping me from making a fool of myself. For a while I have been thinking about writing about the LCWR crisis, and my mind kept circling around the “fact” that orders associated with the LCWR had a dearth of vocations, whereas communities associated with the CMSWR were “overflowing” with new vocations. Thankfully, I was never able to decide what... Read more

Calling on the Catholic Blogosphere: Support Transubstantiation!

Last updated on: May 3, 2017 at 7:01 pm By Brett Salkeld

Some of our readers may be familiar with the grad student comic strip, Piled Higher and Deeper (Ph.D.). It a great little spot on the internet for grad students to laugh at themselves. Their latest great idea is the 2 Minute Thesis Contest. Grad students submit a two-minute audio summary of their thesis to be voted on by the public. The winners will get their dissertation cartooned by Jorge of Ph.D. and win a prize package, not to mention publicity... Read more