The Light that Shines in the Darkness
How Christmas gives meaning to life. When Samuel Huntington wrote “The Clash of Civilizations,” he was referring to the clash between Western Civilization and Islam. But there is a clash within Western Civilization itself which may determine the outcome of the...
The Spirit of Christmas and the Spirit of Islam
How much do Christians and Muslims have in common? Plenty of clues can be found in the celebration of Christmas. “The man that hath no music in himself/ Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds/ Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils” –William Shakespeare,...
Is Bishop Strickland’s Appeal a Dead Letter or a Call to Action?
A few weeks ago, Bishop Joseph Strickland sent an open letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as the group met in Baltimore for its fall plenary assembly. It was a remarkable letter in which Strickland accused his fellow bishops of silence in the...
The Real Presence and the Flight from Reality
A 2019 PEW poll showed that less than one third of U.S Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. By contrast, 69 % said they believed the bread and wine “are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” In response, the United State...
Pope Francis and the Fast-Approaching Future
Why “waiting him out” is not a good strategy Suppose that the Democrats squeeze out a win in the presidential election in two weeks. And suppose that, shortly afterward, new revelations provide overwhelming evidence that it was rigged. Should Republicans simply shrug...
Europe Unveiled
Out of the Dark Ages and into the Seventh Century One of my college history professors liked to emphasize that secularization was the most important development in modern history. At the time, it didn’t seem quite as important to me as the Industrial Revolution, two...
Pope Francis Wants to Humanize the Church, Instead of Helping Sinners Repent, Part 2
How humanism and therapy replaced sin and forgiveness For Part 1 of this essay, click here. Philip Rieff’s 1966 book The Triumph of the Therapeutic examined how the therapeutic mentality had swept through secular culture. What was less noted at the time was that the...
Pope Francis Wants to Humanize the Church Instead of Helping Sinners Repent, Part 1
How pop psychology replaced biblical theology. Among the many “outrages” that led to the excommunication of theologically conservative Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was his claim that a coup d’etat had taken place in the Catholic Church. When we hear the word “coup”...
Archbishop Viganò and the Other ‘Rigged’ Election
The excommunication of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for “his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff” presents us with an opportunity to revisit Viganò’s claim that the pope is not valid. Among the many reasons Viganò offers for saying so is the...
Upside-Down Land
What happens when a civilization loses all of its reference points? I came across two stories recently that seem to be connected—if you look at them in the right way. By coincidence, the subject of the first story is…looking at things in the right way. A German...
