Matthew Schmitz

John B. Buescher offers an entertaining history of tobacco use in the Vatican. It turns out that rolled tobacco (cigars and cigarettes) has been especially favored by recent pontiffs: Pius X took snuff and smoked cigars. Benedict XV did not smoke and did not like others’ smoke. Pius XI smoked an . . . . Continue Reading »

From the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Office: The death of Mrs. Savita Halappanavar and her unborn child in University Hospital Galway on the 28 October last was a devastating personal tragedy for her husband and family. It has stunned our country. We share the anguish and sorrow expressed by so . . . . Continue Reading »

Bringing new meaning to “Black Friday,” Planned Parenthood’s south Florida branch offered a “one-day deal”  promising up to $10 in savings to customers who came in the day after Thanksgiving: The Friday after Thanksgiving begins our popular anticipation of . . . . Continue Reading »

Search giant Google has an official “in-house philosopher,” Stanford Philosophy Ph.D Damon Horowitz : To illustrate how ethics are getting short-shrift in the tech world, Horowitz asked attendees whether they prefer the iPhone or Android. (When the majority voted for the iPhone, he . . . . Continue Reading »

John Podhoretz announces that he no longer opposes gay marriage : As it happens, like our president, I was for a long time an opponent of gay marriage.  I am not any longer —indeed, I am relieved that on Tuesday night citizens of four states chose freely to allow gay marriage within their . . . . Continue Reading »

At Christianity Today , Emory University’s John Witte mounts a defense of anti-Sharia legislation : A constitutional battle over Muslim family law has begun. In November 2010, Oklahoma voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning the use of Muslim Shari’ah and other . . . . Continue Reading »

Approval of the controversial proposal that the Church of England ordain women bishops required two-thirds voting in support in three different bodies—-the Houses of Bishops, Priests, and Laity. Tellingly, it was in the last, most popular, of the three that the measure ran aground, with  . . . . Continue Reading »

Richard John Neuhaus wrote in these pages that if he had the authority, “everyone would use the Revised Standard Version.” Over at  The American Conservative , Michael Brendan Dougherty fires off a volley against the venerable translation: The mainstream option for believing . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholic News Service reports : Citing Bourgeois’ participation in the invalid ordination in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 9, 2008, the Maryknoll statement said, “With patience, the Holy See and the Maryknoll Society have encouraged his reconciliation with the Catholic Church.” . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael Hannon offers a helpful interjection into the roiling same-sex marriage debate: Think back to the embarrassing and obnoxious response your teacher used to give when a student would ask, “Can I go to the bathroom?” “I don’t know,” she would say, “Can you?” . . . . Continue Reading »