From time to time I receive emails from readers who complain about the state of the church. Maybe they say, "I wish I could be near your parish Father. There is no parish within driving distance where the priest teaches the Catholics faith. It's all fuzzy fuzzy feel good liturgy." Or maybe they complain about lukewarm [...]
Today the Vatican released two documents updating the Code of Canon Law regarding marriage annulments. This is great news for all of those who were nervous about the upcoming synod of the family. As John Allen comments here, these new rules provide the way forward in the thorny issue of remarriage after divorce. There is now [...]
Is Burke the Baddie? This article from the Washington Post gives a typical progressive slant on Catholic news. The headline suggests that "Conservative Dissent is Brewing Inside the Vatican." Ho hum. You can guess the tired narrative: Pope Francis is the great reformer who wants to clean up the corrupt Vatican Bank, open [...]
A reader commented recently that she has a Protestant friend who always refers to St James as "Jesus' baby brother." Maybe, and then again maybe not. The early church taught that the "brothers and sisters" of Jesus were his kinsmen from his extended family--most probably the half brothers and sisters from an earlier marriage of Saint [...]
I'm sorry, but I can't jump on the "Defend Kim Davis" bandwagon. I respect the woman's faith and courage immensely, but I have explained here why I think her uncompromising stance is not actually the right decision at this time. In this article I compared her case to that of St Thomas More. If Ms Davis had been a [...]
This week's article at The Imaginative Conservative is an abridged version of a chapter from my book The Romance of Religion This is why the hobbit (and Alice’s rabbit) lived down a hole. The hole was the entrance to the underworld. This is why Dante went through a dark wood and found a hole down into [...]
Let me say right up front that I hope hell is not eternal. I hope God finds a way to offer his forgiveness even to those who are in hell. In fact, I'll jump on the speculative theological bandwagon and propose that God's mercy--since it is everlasting--will extend even to hell. I know I am treading [...]
Evangelist Billy Graham My post for Aleteia this week compares the preaching method and message of Billy Graham and Pope Francis. I sometimes think the Pope is more Evangelical than Billy Graham. Like most Evangelicals of his generation, Graham was famous for inviting people to turn from their sins and have a “personal [...]
As Kentucky clerk Kim Davis does jail time I have been thinking all day about her case compared to St Thomas More. What should a Christian do when their conscience clashes with the law of the land? When they actually work for the government the situation is different than that of an ordinary citizen. Thomas More [...]
I finally got the chance to watch Little Boy --the family film that came out in theaters last summer and is now released on DVD When his dad enlists in the army and disappears to fight the Japanese, seven year old Pepper Busbee's world is shattered. Wanting to get his Dad back, he learns that magic won't work, so [...]