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Matthew Schmitz is a former senior editor of First Things. 

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The Anti-Family Right

From the March 2024 Print Edition

In certain corners of the internet, a new form of anti-feminism is gaining currency. Rather than extol family values, it questions the institution of marriage. Instead of hymning heterosexual love, it glorifies male camaraderie. Far from opposing assisted reproductive technologies, it hopes that . . . . Continue Reading »

Liberalism’s Cold War

From the January 2024 Print Edition

In the 1940s and 1950s, liberalism betrayed itself. Whereas once it had offered an ambitious vision of human perfection, now it began to insist on man’s fallen nature. Rather than propose a bold account of historical progress, it warned that visions of a blissful tomorrow could justify bloody . . . . Continue Reading »

The Pope of Peace

From the Aug/Sept 2023 Print Edition

Amidst a war involving the world’s foremost nuclear powers, Pope Francis has been a lonely voice for peace. For his pains, he has been criticized by commenters on left and right and by leaders in both Russia and Ukraine. Yet he has continued to speak. There is a great deal at stake in whether the . . . . Continue Reading »

Hazards of Nationalism

From the May 2023 Print Edition

Anti-Christian vio­lence is on the rise in Israel. Jewish extremists have attacked Christian sites six times since the new year, compared to nine such attacks in the whole of 2021 and thirteen in 2020. At the Protestant cemetery on Mount ­Zion, Jewish youths desecrated more than thirty graves, . . . . Continue Reading »

Benedict Lives

From the March 2023 Print Edition

Benedict XVI believed that his work was done. Three days after announcing his resignation, he gave a speech on the struggle that had defined his pontificate. It concerned the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, in which he had taken an important part. On one side stood the “true . . . . Continue Reading »

Vanity Press

From the February 2023 Print Edition

She Said, a film that follows two New York Times reporters as they hunt Harvey Weinstein, debuted in October to rave reviews. Variety described it as “tense, fraught, and absorbing.” The Washington Post deemed it “engrossing, even galvanizing.” The New York . . . . Continue Reading »