A friend of mine, an early activist in the Christian Democrat party in El Salvador, told me a story that I have been thinking about lately. Before I had ever gone to that country as a missionary, the parish school building served as a polling place. When they were setting up for an election, my … Read more
“Enemy-occupied territory: that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” — C. S. Lewis “A Christian has only to be in order to change the world, for … Read more
A friend of mine recently called the police to lodge a complaint about a Halloween display in her neighborhood: a life-size figure of the horror-movie slasher, Freddy Krueger holding the bloody, butchered body of a baby in his clawed hands. The police responded that the display was not illegal in any way. My friend, intrepid … Read more
[Editor’s Note 5/18/23: This article was originally titled “Voting for Abortion is a Crime Against Humanity” but the author asked it be retitled to better reflect his views.] Abortion is an intrinsic moral evil. It involves carrying out or arranging to carry out the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. An intrinsic evil is … Read more
At last. On the first day of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican senators stood up to the anti-religious bigotry of their Democratic colleagues over the disgraceful treatment of Judge Barrett’s Catholic faith. One of the greatest highlights was Senator Josh Hawley’s impassioned opening statement against the blatant anti-Catholic bigotry … 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
In a mid-September webinar on “The Church and Catholic Voters in the 2020 Election,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, weighed in on a question often asked these days: Can a Catholic vote for Joe Biden? Cardinal Tobin, long a stalwart of the U.S. Church’s liberal wing, dissented from the reigning consensus. “I think … Read more
As our readers must know, Amy Coney Barrett, whom President Trump has nominated for a position on the Supreme Court, was a long-time member of a charismatic and ecumenical Christian group called People of Praise. The women in the group are called handmaids, after the world-changing fiat of Mary: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be … Read more
With the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, Catholics should buckle their chinstraps for the torrential cascade of anti-Catholicism that will be belched up by her opponents. The vituperative attacks on Catholics will probably rival the Know-Nothing riots that rocked the nation in the 1840s and 1850s. But this time, there … Read more
“Kamala Harris is an anti-Catholic bigot,” wrote former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in an August 15 article for Fox News. Not only is she an anti-Catholic bigot; Mr. Gingrich claims that the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee “is the most openly anti-Catholic bigot to be on a national ticket in modern times.” Senator Harris … Read more
Speaking on the tarmac at the Cleveland airport, President Donald Trump warned that, if elected, Democratic presumptive-nominee Joe Biden would “hurt God”—an arresting thing to say, and worthy of some consideration. While it is possible that Mr. Biden will in some sense be able to hurt God—as we all do with our sinfulness—he is more … Read more