The weather isn’t the only thing that’s heating up down here on the border. As temperatures this week inch closer to the triple-digits, the repercussions of SB 1070 – Arizona’s tough new immigration law – continue to remain center stage. (If you haven’t read the law itself, the link above takes you there. Many people … Read more
John McCain wants to appear tough on terror. Instead, he just looks like he’s never read the Constitution. Over at The Hill today, Michael O’Brien notes that McCain believes it would have been a “serious error” to read Miranda rights to Faisal Shahzad, the suspected Times Square car bomber. And while the years since 9/11 … Read more
With all the pontification lately about the visitation of women’s religious orders, as well as the call in some corners for “more women in the Church” as a means to combat the sex-abuse scandal, Kathy Lopez of National Review Online has done a real service by speaking with an actual religious sister for her perspective … Read more
By now, it seems that pretty much everyone has heard about Arizona’s controversial new immigration law. Protests are springing up around the country, threats of boycotts and lawsuits are coming from various groups, and politicians from across the spectrum (including notable figures like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jeb Bush ) are condemning the legislation. And as … Read more
I came across an article this morning touting something I’ve only recently become aware of: the wonders of Vitamin D, and the dangerous deficiency in this underappreciated nutrient among a worldwide population spending less and less time out in the sun: There is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency sweeping across our modern world, and … Read more
The 1998 Malachi Martin novel, Windswept House, opens with a Satanic ritual performed at St. Paul’s chapel inside Vatican City by members at every level of the Catholic clergy. The purpose? To open the door of the Church to the Devil’s influence, and lead to the destruction of Catholicism from within. The premise of the … Read more
A friend passed along an article written by author Laurence M. Vance, about American Right to Life’s recent assault on Dr. Ron Paul’s pro-life position. Vance comes out swinging: The right-to-life movement is a failure. Although millions of dollars have been spent on lobbying, marches, and protests since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, millions of women … Read more
Two years ago, my first column for Inside Catholic came in the form of a controversial piece about why, as a pro-life Catholic, I no longer attend the March for Life. In my newness to the format, and taking into consideration the complexity of the issue, I failed to make an argument that was balanced and … Read more
My wife and I began a new Christmas tradition a couple years ago, and we’re trying to spread it. There is a beer – a very remarkable beer – that’s named after the season’s favorite saint: Samichlaus . Every year on December 6th, the Feast of St. Nicholas, the good beer brewers of of Austria begin … Read more
My discovery of the Traditional Latin Mass, now known in the wake of Summorum Pontificum as the “extraordinary rite,” was a slow but logical process rooted in a lifelong desire for a liturgy that was sensible, sacramental, and enhanced by the trappings of orthodoxy. The journey began in a small, rural parish in Pennsylvania attended … Read more
This has been getting passed around the past week or two, and I only just got to watch it today. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a brilliant little stage performance by a group of students posing as silent monks who have devised a clever way to perform Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus without uttering a peep… … Read more
This past Sunday, as I attempted to get my wriggling, squeaking, squirming children settled in our pew for what usually amounts to a liturgical rodeo — see if you can keep them on their best behavior for eight seconds without getting thrown out of the church — I noticed the arrival of two women in … Read more
As Washington D.C. geared up (or in my case, hunkered down) in preparation for the unprecedented influx of people expected to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama today, a telling paradox came to light. Officials estimate at least 1.5 million people are in town for the historic swearing-in of our nation’s first black president. … Read more
On Saturday, I headed off to the early absentee voting booth, where, for the first time in my life, I voted third party. Though I don’t need to explain myself, I will anyway: I’m a former Republican who voted third party because I’m tired of the issues I care about — all of them — … Read more
There is an elderly man in our parish whose self-appointed mission during Mass is to angrily harass any parent who dares to linger in the apse of the church for a second after his or her child begins to fuss. It’s discouraging to see this sort of behavior in a parish with so many … Read more
"Hello. My name is Steve, and I’m a ‘traditional’ Catholic." So begins my admission of membership in a disparate group that, as you’ve already read, is far too well known for its bitterness, anger, and lack of evangelical spirit. I don’t like being typecast in this way. Just because I have a profound … Read more
Last May in Tucson, Arizona, two young men named Armando Estrada and Rosendo C. Valenzuela were working for Mamie Gong, an elderly Chinese woman. Mamie, who owned a trailer park and some land outside the city, had hired the men to help her clean up some trash that had accumulated on the vacant parcel. … Read more
Ron Paul received a campaign contribution from a neo-Nazi. Mike Huckabee made a public visit to the church of evangelical pastor John Hagee, known for his anti-Catholicism. After Huckabee freed himself of the mess, John McCain landed in it with Hagee’s endorsement. Now, Barack Obama is struggling to do damage control following his decades-long association … Read more
I am a Catholic living in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and I chose not to attend the March for Life. That will probably seem odd to many fellow Catholics who share my staunch pro-life views. It shouldn’t. The fact is, the pro-life movement has overlooked a crucial point in the effort to end abortion: … Read more