R. R. Reno

As is the case in so many other countries, the Australian government is revisiting the question of higher education. The United States isn’t all that different. We’re worried about how to finance our gigantic system, and we’re concerned about how to ensure that various . . . . Continue Reading »

This week we learned that the Pope will not accept the resignation of two Irish auxiliary bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field. The Murphy Report in 2009 implicated them in the larger failures of the Irish hierarchy to respond to sexual abuse by priest. John Allen at the National Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

There tends to be confusion in some responses to the recent decision to overturn Proposition 8 in California. On the one hand, defenders of traditional marriage often point to natural law, or if not natural law, at least a common wisdom about the natural purposes of marriage—a disciplining . . . . Continue Reading »

In the last few days, various human rights organizations have criticized the Wikileaks posting of thousands of secret documents about U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Amnesty International and others point out something that should have been obvious to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Many . . . . Continue Reading »

Cleaving to the truths of revelation, insisted Pope John Paul II in Ex Corde Ecclesia (“From the heart of the Church”), issued twenty years ago Sunday, energizes the inquiring mind, giving us confidence that truth is worth the effort of discovery. The main thrust of the Pope’s vision contradicted the usual assumption the Church and the university represent antithetical traditions: the Church teaching with authority and shutting down debate, the university encouraging free and open inquiry… . Continue Reading »

My posting yesterday about Stanley Fish’s deflationary remarks about plagiarism elicited a number of nuanced, reflective comments from readers, many of whom are teachers who grapple with the problem of plagiarism on a regular basis. The comments induced in me a moment of repentance. In his . . . . Continue Reading »

The recent Economist magazine features a helpful article about Catholicism in contemporary Europe, ” The Fate of Catholic Europe: The Void Within .” The title is misleading, suggesting a spiritual vacuum. The substance of the article is more nuanced, however, drawing attention to the . . . . Continue Reading »

I love Stanley Fish. He’s a circus clown who bounces around and distracts us from the changes between acts. His latest ” Opinionator ” column in the New York Times is a classic performance. Plagiarism is not big deal, he argues, because there is no such thing as originality. Every . . . . Continue Reading »

Fr. Francis Martin has suffered a heart attack, and is presently in intensive care in Copehhagen, Denmark. A long time proponent of biblical interpretation informed by the wisdom of the church’s great tradition of doctrine, Fr. Martin has been an important voice in contempoary . . . . Continue Reading »

Today I wrote about the culture of intimidation in academia , a mentality confident that it should censure and punish traditional views of sexual morality. Although it was not available when I wrote the column, this morning I was fascinated to read Judge Walker’s decision to rule . . . . Continue Reading »