In 1489 the Roman Catholic Church felt, and was, hemmed into a corner of the world. The view from Rome was of Africa and Asia long lost to heretical churches or to Islam, and Europe divided between Catholicism and Orthodoxy (itself seen as heretical), while Ottoman power advanced relentlessly up the . . . . Continue Reading »
Sinéad O’Connor, the troubled Irish singer-songwriter, died in July at age fifty-six. No cause of death has been announced, but it is fair to note that at times she both predicted and welcomed her own demise. Her son Shane committed suicide in 2022. Not long after, she vowed, “I’ve decided . . . . Continue Reading »
At ninety-four years old, Eva Brann is both the oldest and longest-serving tutor at St. John’s College in Annapolis, America’s premier Great Books liberal arts institution. She is also the most widely published member of the faculty, notable at a school aimed at cultivating the life of the mind . . . . Continue Reading »
Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., joins the podcast to discuss his new book The Moral Wisdom of the Catholic Church: A Defense of Her Controversial Moral Teachings. Continue Reading »
This year’s biggest Electric Picnic controversy concerns a folk band called the Wolfe Tones, whose members have been writing and singing Irish rebel songs for decades. Continue Reading »
As a result of Catholicism's demise, are the Irish no longer governed by a firm, inherited sense of right and wrong? If the answer is “yes,” then Ireland cannot claim that it wasn’t warned. Continue Reading »
What is currently being pursued under the name of “synodality” represents the continuation of the Tridentine hierarchy-centered understanding of the Church. Such immobilism risks making Christianity irrelevant. Continue Reading »