Francis X. Maier

The etymology of the word “carol” is linked back to dances of joy and praise. The birth of humanity’s savior seems pretty clearly to warrant both. Continue Reading »

Sex without love—real love, the kind that comes with obligations and unexpected burdens, but also unexpected joys—kills the taste for both.   Continue Reading »

Our problem as a country boils down to the fact that we hate each other. Continue Reading »

Andrée Emery, Hungarian by birth, rates barely a footnote in Church history: Check Google. She’s Andrée the Obscure; Andrée the Forgotten. But she mattered. Continue Reading »

What the past teaches us most forcefully is that reform of the institution depends on reform of the individual. Continue Reading »

First Things brings articulate, committed believers together across confessional divides.  Continue Reading »

Confusion within the German Church never stays within the German Church.  Continue Reading »

Switchblade Sisters is one of the most idiotic and embarrassing movies ever made. I should know. I wrote it. Continue Reading »

The extraordinary fact of Catholic life in the United States is not the few bishops who humiliate us so bitterly, but the many who do the job so well. Continue Reading »

The virtue of hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage: anger with the way things are, and courage to change them for the better. These powerful words (you can find them all over the internet) are attributed to St. Augustine. Unfortunately, they may not be his. A friend of mine who is an . . . . Continue Reading »