On Nov. 22, 1963, the seventh grade at Baltimore’s Cathedral School was in gym class when we got word that President Kennedy had been shot. A half-hour later, while we were climbing the stairs back to 7B’s classroom, Sister Dolorine’s voice came over the p.a., announcing that the president was dead. Walking into 7B, my classmates and I saw something that shocked us as much as the news we’d just heard: our tough-love homeroom teacher, a young School Sister of Notre Dame, was sobbing, her faced buried in her arms on her desk. . . . Continue Reading»
What are a series of paintings featuring the crucifixion doing on show at New York’s Jewish Museum? After all—as the museum’s senior curator acknowledges—some constituents may find such a display rather transgressive. Yet, the answer is that these paintings are by a Jewish artist, and perhaps one of the most remarkably Jewish artists at that, Marc Chagall. . . . Continue Reading»
With only 266 popes named over two thousand years, the papacy is the most exclusive office on the planet, and—the occasional scoundrel notwithstanding—we Catholics have been mostly well served by our Petrine successors. Particularly during the modern era, in which invention and industry have cooperated in finding new and creative ways to spill unprecedented amounts of human blood, and ancient evils like slavery are put down in one place only to grow like intentional, pernicious viruses somewhere else, our popes have been particularly clear-eyed servants of the servants. . . . Continue Reading»
The cultural climate today isn’t very congenial for men and women of faith. Graduate students tell me they need to be very careful. There are religious colleges and universities, to be sure, but for the most part institutions of higher education are dominated by an aggressively secular culture hostile to faith. These days the love of God often seems to be the one love that cannot speak its name. How, then, should the Christian intellectual proceed? … Continue Reading»
Paul Robert Schneider (1897-1939) was the first Protestant pastor to die in a concentration camp at the hands of the Nazis. His story is one of unmitigated courage, self-sacrifice, and martyrdom. Only in recent years has he begun to receive some of the recognition he deserves… . Continue Reading»
Sixteen years ago today, November 16, I began my work as a delegate to the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops. Those weeks in Rome so many years ago, serving with brothers from around the hemisphere, were an extraordinary education and blessing. They’ve shaped the course of my life as a bishop ever since. Thanks to that meeting, I have on my desk at home a picture of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, a gift from the then-coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires. As some of you may know, he has since gone on to other duties. A lot has changed since 1997… . Continue Reading»
The day remains vivid; a sunny and mild Friday, typical Los Angeles November weather. I was a high school freshman. Eleven a.m. gym class over, I was showered and hungry for lunch. As a group of us boys jostled and kidded waiting for the bell that would spark our daily dash to the food line, a kid came running up and said breathlessly, “Kennedy’s been shot!” . . . Continue Reading»
We often hear complaints about the degradation of morality in the contemporary world, as compared with past eras. This may or may not be true. But if we focus on the development of conscience, and particularly in the Western World, which has been affected (even in “post-Christian” regions) by Judeo-Christian values—a definite, gradual improvement is discernible, at least in certain areas. Take genocide, for instance. . . . Continue Reading»
America’s high-earners are more likely to be married. Its low-earners are not: There is a reason why the Julia in President Obama’s “Life of Julia” slideshow got what she needed from President Obama’s policies at every point in her life (and never needed anyone else for anything else). As Peter Lawler has pointed out, the combination of weak social networks and the responsibility of raising children tends to incline voters toward statist policies. . . . Continue Reading»
I recently saw a preview performance of Jack O’Brien’s production of Macbeth at Lincoln Center—the one starring Ethan Hawke in the title role. Here’s the short review: It’s not great. Don’t waste your money on it. But the great thing about bad Shakespeare is that it can be bad in an interesting way. . . . Continue Reading»
