Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about the “Last Carmelite Monks in America.” At the time, the eight Carmelites and their novices were overflowing their four-bedroom rectory in the mountains of northwest Wyoming. Since then, the monks’ numbers have grown quickly. By the end of the year, there will be as many as 18 … Read more
“Why, then, did you become a priest?” My friend, a priest who has spent his entire life in parish ministry, could not understand how I could leave my pastorate to accept a non-parochial assignment. Challenged, I knew the answer at once. “I became a priest,” I replied without hesitation, “so that I could celebrate Mass.” … Read more
The other day, my family went to the dentist because some people (me) just don’t take it seriously when the dentist says that chewy candy isn’t good for your spacer. As the kids unload themselves from the van . . . and why does this take so long? Haven’t they ever gotten out of a … Read more
 To some, the phrase “Catholic Community” conjures up images of exclusive ghettos — areas of faith-filled Catholics who live close together and are so different from the world outside that they fail to engage it in any meaningful way. At the other extreme is contemporary Catholic life, where churchgoers attend the parish of their … Read more
A few days ago I was asked to speak to a men’s group in Atlanta about Catholics in politics. As part of my presentation, I talked about the possibility of greater Catholic and Evangelical cooperation. To illustrate my point, I told the story about the reconciliation earlier this year between Pastor John Hagee and Catholic … Read more
The Grand Inquisitor John Zmirak, illustrated by Carla Millar, Crossroad, $19.95, 76 pages A graphic novel is a comic book on steroids: It’s bigger, fiercer, and capable of heavy lifting. What could be a heavier topic than a conspiracy to destroy Christ’s Church from within? That’s the theme of John Zmirak’s latest, The Grand Inquisitor. … Read more
Recently, the influential German philosopher Jürgen Habermas spoke of the emergence of a “post-secular” society. It had long been thought that as societies grew in technological and economic power, and as the risks of daily life that had been so common for generations faded beneath the safety of plentiful food, a social welfare system, and … Read more
It is an old fact of Christian theology that concupiscence “darkens the intellect” — or, as I prefer to put it in more colloquial terms, “Sin Makes You Stupid.” The visceral reaction to Sarah Palin by the Enemies of the Normal in the Obama camp is a picture-perfect illustration of this. From the instantaneous embrace … Read more
“Mademoiselle, please help me!” The old woman’s hand trembles above the arm of the wheelchair. I glance around the bustling hallway, noting all the nurses, technicians, and nurses’ aides. Nobody appears to have heard the plaintive cry. “I beg you, take me to my room!” “Where is your room?” I ask briskly, since I am … Read more
By adding Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain made his presidential ticket a whole lot more attractive. (See my own endorsement: “Me Vote Pretty This Time.”) Of course, Palin’s presence is no guarantee that McCain will keep his word and appoint solid choices to the U.S. Supreme Court — any more than doting husband Al … Read more
A friend recently sent me a remark by one Msgr. Alfred Gilbey, a onetime chaplain at Cambridge’s Fisher House who was often called “eccentric” (but that mostly meant that he was a believing and practicing Catholic priest in a chaotic time). I’m sure his words will come as news to many. In an article in … Read more
Appearing Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Sen. Barack Obama tried to undo the damage done by his Saddleback Church interview with Rick Warren — specifically his comment that the question of when an unborn child receives human rights was “above [his] pay grade.” “Was that phrase too flip?” Stephanopoulos asked Obama. “Probably,” Obama … Read more
Although I’m a lifelong Democrat, a former Democratic majority leader of the Rhode Island Senate, and in 1992 a Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives, I have for many years now denounced in writing the policies of the national Democratic Party. I have even written a book of denunciation: Can a Catholic … Read more
It took two cars and the whole family — including all six children — to transport the eldest, Mariruthe, to college in the fall of 1972. I was 16 then, and we had just moved from Richmond to Wilmington. “We’ve been transferred,” my father had told me with forced calm, as if pretending “everything is … Read more
With the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, a fatal blow was delivered to the great myth of this campaign: that religious voters, as we have been told repeatedly, have embraced a broader issue agenda, having left behind their fixation on abortion and marriage. On the contrary: The thousands of Republicans … Read more
None of this year’s Catholic presidential candidates (Sam Brownback, George Pataki, Rudolph Giuliani, Joe Biden, Wesley Clark, Christopher Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson) earned a nomination from either of the two major political parties. Arguably, however, the Church had its highest profile in a presidential race since 1960 with this past Democratic primary. Unfortunately, … Read more
The pictures say it all. No, not the Tigh/Roslin ’08 pictures (though they do make you wonder). I mean these pictures here. The believers in the Lightworker (i.e., most MSM types) have all of a sudden morphed into upstanding Republican Puritans of a kind not seen since Ozzie and Harriet ruled the earth. So we … Read more
The usual politics aside, there’s more to John McCain’s recent appointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate and candidate for the vice presidency. While many pro-life and pro-family voters cheered her appointment, some are more hesitant to elect a mother of five children, one of whom is still an infant, to the vice presidency … Read more
Change and unity — the two words surely epitomize Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency. Last week’s Democratic Convention extolled change hourly, in a relentless drumbeat. The only relief came when unity was emphasized. What nags at the back of the mind is that the call for “change” and “unity” is not so much an … Read more
Greater Than You Think: A Theologian Answers the Atheists about God Rev. Thomas D. Williams, L.C., FaithWords, 192 pages, $13.99 In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence. — Sir Isaac Newton It would seem improbable that a Christian might, in a scant 192 pages, bring sound … Read more