Opinion

Brideshead Reinvented

Brideshead Revisited, the classic Catholic novel by Evelyn Waugh, was made into a highly successful television miniseries in 1981. The 11-part series — written by John Mortimer, produced by Granada Television, and starring Jeremy Irons — was praised for its fidelity to Waugh’s novel, particularly for its respectful treatment of the Catholic faith. Every major … Read more

Faith in Flanders

Antwerp is home to glorious churches, but it’s difficult to pray in them. At the cathedral dedicated to Our Lady, a large section at the base of the nave, with a glorious view of the whole church under its superb gothic arches, is set aside for prayer. But it feels bleak. The Blessed Sacrament is … Read more

Concerning Eucharistic Desecration

For those who may have missed it, P. Z. Myers, a washed-up academic at a third-tier school who takes out his bitterness on Christians and calls it "science blogging," claimed that some human toothache named Webster Cook had received death threats for stealing a Eucharist and threatening to desecrate it. Reader John Farrell repeatedly tried … Read more

Sins of Omission: Catholics, Marriage, and Politics

The California Supreme Court supremely violated the will of the people of that state when it overturned California’s eight-year-old Defense of Marriage Act. The court declared that homosexuals have a right to marry the person of their choice. The Catholic governor of California supported this ruling, as did several other prominent, publicly Catholic Californians. The … Read more

Will the Iraqi Constitution Protect Christians?

Two weeks ago I spoke with Bishops Mar Sarhad Jammo and Mar Bawai Soro about their plan to protect Iraqi Christians from violence and ensure religious liberty. The bishops expressed hope that one day the provisions of the Iraq Constitution protecting all religious minorities from discrimination and persecution could be implemented. In speaking with Manny … Read more

Bent Juel-Jensen

In the Danish town of Odense, the tomb of Saint Canute IV, who had tried to conquer William the Conqueror, has a bullet mark from a clash with Nazi occupiers. Bent Juel-Jansen (1922-2006) fought in the Danish resistance, helping Allied airmen escape, and later served two years in the navy, having been born in that … Read more

Faith and Reason in the West

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI returned to a theme he has advanced several times in his papacy: the importance of faith combined with reason, and the inadequacy of either faith or reason alone. This idea of the complementary nature of faith and reason received international … Read more

The Devil Went Down to Gotham

The Batman franchises have long struggled to find the correct balance between good and evil. In the original Batman, Tim Burton’s love for the visually (and emotionally) bizarre, combined with Jack Nicholson’s apparent inability to control himself, produced a film whose focus quickly shifted from Michael Keaton’s mildly-tormented title character to Nicholson’s wildly over-acted Joker. … Read more

What about Din?

About 30 years ago I organized (or found it to be organizing itself) a peculiar Friday afternoon group that came to be called Beer ‘n’ Bull. Despite its rather rackety sound, it is a surprisingly sober conclave, mostly of my college students and (now) former students. Obviously the (very loose) membership has changed over 38 … Read more

InsideCatholic Book Club: ‘Exiles’

What is “Catholic” fiction? Is it fiction written by a Catholic? Must it include Catholic characters and treat distinctly Catholic themes? Does it reflect a “Catholic sensibility”? Should the reader even bother with such questions? To try to sort through some of these issues, Amy Welborn, Matthew Lickona, Bishop Daniel Flores, and Joseph O’Brien spent … Read more

Obama, Patriotism, and Cosmopolitanism

Speaking in Independence, Missouri, on June 30, Sen. Barack Obama gave what may be called his “I am a patriot” speech. He said that “the question of who is — or is not — a patriot all too often poisons our political debate.” He then displayed his own patriotic credentials by declaring, “Throughout my life, … Read more

Serving Christ Our Light

Sr. Marla Marie Lucas is proof that God can call one to the religious life from anywhere — even the Washington Post newsroom. In 1982, as a 21-year-old graduate of George Washington University’s journalism program, Lucas was employed as an assistant to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Post editorial cartoonist “Herblock” when a chance meeting with two … Read more

The Latest Historical Attack on Jesus Falls Flat

Archaeologists find a pre-Christian stone that describes a savior who will die and rise in three days. Has Christianity been debunked? Mark Shea takes a look. In a story that has "Academic Seeks Publicity Gig" written all over it, the New York Times breathlessly revealed the other day that some professor had found a stone … Read more

The Catholic Left Meets in Philadelphia

  The Convention for the Common Good was held in Philadelphia over the past weekend. When I wrote about the gathering in early April, Catholics Organize to Elect Obama, one of its co-sponsors wrote to me saying that I had mischaracterized their “non-partisan” effort to bring Catholics together to discuss public policy. Further, they told … Read more

Bastille Day: Baptism by Blood

Yesterday probably passed without much fanfare in your home, but July 14 is a day I usually try to commemorate. Not because I carry a single drop of French blood (more’s the pity — I’d be proud to be a cousin of Joan of Arc and François Mauriac). No, it’s because I think Bastille Day … Read more

An Irish Mystic Comes to Chicago

Mark I. Miravalle teaches theology at Franciscan University and is known around the world for his lectures on Mariology, private revelation, and Marian apparitions. He also heads a Catholic movement promoting an understanding of the Blessed Mother as "Coredemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces, and Advocate for the People of God." When I spoke to Miravalle … Read more

Willing America Right

Marking each chapter of George Will’s latest book, One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation, is a simple graphic of the sort of round, wire-rimmed glasses that are as recognizable to Will as was the plain black suit and slim tie to Albert Einstein.  One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations … Read more

Coveting and Contentment

I only saw her for a moment. I was leaving the grocery store one recent afternoon as a small, white-haired lady was heading in. I steered my loaded cart past her on the sidewalk, our eyes met, and we nodded politely at one another. As we did, I caught a glimpse of something that she … Read more

Page-Turning American History

Those of us who love reading history are less and less inclined to read professional historians these days. History is, even more than most of the humanities, a left-wing profession. Historians are also, like most academics, more inclined to write for their colleagues than for the public. As a result, far too many books produced … Read more

Orestes Brownson and Territorial Democracy

“The thesis we propose to maintain is, therefore, that without the Roman Catholic religion it is impossible to preserve a democratic government, and secure its free, orderly, and wholesome action.” Orestes Brownson wrote these words in an 1845 essay titled “Catholicity Necessary to Sustain Popular Liberty.” It is impossible to imagine anyone saying these words … Read more

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