“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.” … Read more
“I am not the Catholic candidate for president,” John F. Kennedy famously declared. (At least he was honest.) Throughout the 1960 election, JFK struggled to overcome the old Know-Nothing myth that, were the United States to put an Irish Catholic in the White House, he would have a direct telephone line to the Holy See. … Read more
I once had the unenviable task of explaining to Thomas Howard what the alt-right is. “They’re white nationalists,” I said, “but they also oppose the ascent of libertarians in the Republican Party.” “I see.” He nodded. “And what’s a libertarian?” That one I couldn’t bring myself to explain. It would be an honor to say … Read more
Bishop Heinz-Josef Algermissen recently published a letter claiming that, during an October 7 meeting with Pope Francis, the Holy Father expressed “dramatic concern” with the state of the German Church. As well he might. Francis has always been wary of the German bishops’ synodal journey, which is being convened to discuss “authority and separation of … Read more
“I should like a new Papal Bull every morning with my Times at breakfast.” — William George Ward The kindest thing one can say about Pope Francis’s new social encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, is that it’s totally incomprehensible. Alas, there’s a great deal more we ought to say about it. I was startled by one particular … Read more
How odd that the first known owner of the Shroud of Turin should be, not some wealthy cardinal or powerful lord, but a knight. Now, granted, Geoffroi de Charny was no ordinary knight. He was, by all accounts, the most capable soldier in the service of France during the Hundred Years’ War and the most … Read more
“The world has heard enough of the so-called ‘rights of man.’ Let it hear something of the rights of God.” — Pope Leo XIII Like all the philosophers of the Enlightenment, John Locke believed that morality could be justified on purely rational grounds. Like all the philosophers of the Enlightenment, he was also wary of … Read more
Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents Rod Dreher (Sentinel, 2020) Hardcover, $27.00 On September 18, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87. At once, this country was filled with the sound of progressives weeping and gnashing their teeth. From what I could gather, none of them knew Ginsburg personally. Most … Read more
In ten years, when you think back to the year 2020, which name will come to mind? Maybe it will be Donald Trump or Joseph Biden. Maybe it will be George Floyd or Rayshard Brooks. For me, I’m afraid, it will be Joseph D. Rosenbaum. A video recorded during the Kenosha protests shows Mr. Rosenbaum—a … Read more
Filipe Castro, a professor of maritime anthropology at Texas A&M, earned his fifteen minutes of fame when a number of disturbing posts on his Facebook account were published by conservative media outlets. Most of the posts contained graphic descriptions of Republicans meeting violent, gruesome ends. Among the most lurid—and we apologize for the disturbing image—is … Read more
Editor’s note: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, in partnership with the Benedict XVI Institute, has launched a petition calling on lawmakers to lift “extreme restrictions on public worship.” His Excellency kindly granted Crisis Magazine an interview to discuss his efforts. Do you see any connection between the Mass restrictions and the attacks on Catholic … Read more
I wasn’t surprised to find that my last column, “Against Women’s Suffrage,” attracted some criticism. I was rather surprised—and very pleasantly so—by the overwhelmingly positive feedback I received from women. In fact, the majority of detractors were men who were offended on behalf of their wives and daughters. I commend these gentlemen. It shows the … Read more
On August 20, Stephen K. Bannon was arrested on charges of fraud connected to $1 million he received from an organization called We Build the Wall, Inc. We Build the Wall began as a GoFundMe campaign. Its goal was to raise funds to build the “Trump Wall” along the U.S./Mexico border. Eventually, it evolved into a … Read more
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and final state to approve the Nineteenth Amendment. Having achieved a three-quarters majority of the 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii were still territories), the U.S. Constitution officially declared: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United … Read more
O God, the cleanest offering Of tainted earth below, Unblushing to thy feet we bring— “A leper white as snow!” In September of 1881, while King Kalākaua of Hawaii was away on his world tour, his regent (and sister) Princess Liliʻuokalani visited the leper colony of Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai. Its administrator was … Read more
“You ought to be a model of justice, a mirror of holiness, an exemplar of piety, a proclaimer of truth, a defender of the Faith, the terror of the wicked, the glory of the good, the rod of the mighty, the hammer of tyrants, the father of kings, the moderator of laws, the God of … Read more
Progressivism is not an ideology, but a political religion. Black Lives Matter is not a political movement: it’s a secular cult. I’m sure Crisis readers need no convincing on either point. But, should any doubts remain, consider the case of the Reverend Daniel Patrick Moloney. Until June 9, Father Moloney served as Catholic chaplain for … Read more
“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” he wrote. “It is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.” This isn’t the … Read more
“When men follow justice, the whole city blooms, the earth bears rich harvests, and children and flocks increase, but to the unjust all nature is hostile, the people waste away from famine and pestilence, and a single man’s sin may bring ruin on a whole city.” — Hesiod From Rome to Washington, the Successors to … Read more
“The counter-revolution will not be a contrary revolution, but the contrary of revolution.” — Joseph de Maistre Should Catholics be excommunicated for holding views on race which are found to be insufficiently woke? The Jesuits seem to think so. In a June 1 editorial, America magazine urged Catholics to “hunger for [social] justice like we … Read more