Since the promulgation of St. John Paul II’s Mulieris Dignitatem in 1988, Catholics often speak of a “mutual submission” between husbands and wives. Proponents of the idea of mutual submission between spouses, including John Paul himself and Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia, often cite Ephesians chapter 5, and particularly verse 21—“submitting to one another out … Read more
I have an Evangelical friend (I’ll call him Tom) with whom I regularly meet for coffee to engage in friendly “debate” over our differing theological views. In one of our earlier meetings, beginning to explain the Catholic understanding of predestination against his more-or-less Calvinist view, I premised that God created man for friendship with him. … Read more
St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Galatians (4:4): “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, born of woman”; “Only by the power of the Holy Spirit,” added Pope John Paul II in the apostolic letter Mulieris dignitatem, (one of his very greatest teaching documents, the twenty-fifth anniversary of which … Read more
If you’ve been with us for the first two parts here and here, you’ll recall the three waves of attack against the family—(1) the assertion that marriage enslaves, (2) that children are a burden, and (3) that sexual difference is a fiction. How to respond? I’d like to conclude our short history by reflecting not … Read more
“You’ll be the prince, and I’ll be the princess, It’s a love story Baby, just say yes.” — Taylor Swift, “Love Story” Doesn’t everyone love a good love story? Maybe not. At the feminist blog Feministing, commenter Chloe recently confessed that she enjoys listening to Taylor Swift’s music now and then, even if it’s what … Read more
My mother did not, to my knowledge, abort any of her children. I do, however, distinctly recall a miscarriage she suffered when I was twelve years old, which caused her great emotional and physical pain. I understood, from my adolescent perspective, that what was lost was somehow precious to her. As another of her children, … 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
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
Marjorie Campbell’s new book, On the Way to the Kingdom, has its origins in the radical feminism of her youth and her discovery of the late humorist and newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck. A mother of three children (ages 13 to 20), a wife, and an attorney, Campbell turned away from radical feminism when a friend … Read more
My mother-in-law once asked me disapprovingly, “Why are you so direct and confrontational with your husband? You should know by now he doesn’t like it. It’s no way to get what you want.” She added with a twinkle in her eye, “You know, dear, I have everything I always wanted in life — but I … Read more
I married into a guy’s-guy family. War stories, fart jokes, sex tales, and harrowing narratives involving body parts, souped-up vehicles, and confrontations with law enforcement dominated the decidedly not-polite dinner conversation. This was all new and often entertaining to me, coming from a household of enforced manners, feigned politeness, imposed goodwill, and repressed aggressions. Both … Read more
This morning, I conducted an experiment. 8:15 a.m.: I lock myself in the bathroom. 8:15 a.m. and 4 seconds: The baby’s fat fingers appear at the bottom of the doorway. “Mama?” he calls out in alarm. He plunks his bottom on the floor just outside the door and whines. 8:17 a.m.: Three-year-old beats on … Read more
Katha Pollitt’s April 29 column titled “Men of the Cloth” betrays the desperation of the dying radical feminist agenda. The article’s subhead — “When it comes to keeping women pregnant and in their place, polygamous Mormons and the pope have a lot in common. But the pope does it on a wider scale” — … Read more
Pinning “feminism” to the board — as Dawn Eden attempts to do in her article “Eve of Deconstruction“ — is a collector’s task, not the capture of a single specimen. Eden misses the beauty, dignity, and continuing value of the feminist movement, distracted no doubt by the vehemently secular individualism of certain noisy modern feminists. … Read more
Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, Mulieris Dignitatem, turns 20 this year, and in honor of its August 15 anniversary, Catholic women’s conferences around the world are celebrating the single instance in all John Paul II’s writings when he advocated “feminism” — or, as he qualified it, a … Read more
In May 1994, Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis to deal with one specific issue: the Church’s ban on the admission of women to the ministerial priesthood. The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church Sara Butler, Hillenbrand Books, $23, 132 pages In May 1994, … Read more