There is a lot of goodness in prisons. At times, I am sure, prisons may be hell on earth. I was fortunate to be kept safe and treated well. I was impressed by the professionalism of the warders, the faith of the prisoners, and the existence of a moral sense even in the darkest places. I was in . . . . Continue Reading »
Monsignor Ronald Knox lived such an outstanding life that one can’t but feel the utter inadequacy of one’s own next to its record. Continue Reading »
Vatican diplomacy seems to be reverting to a Casaroli-style accommodation of thuggish regimes. Continue Reading »
Hagia Sophia should no more be a mosque than the Parthenon should be restored to the worship of Athena. Continue Reading »
The Catholicism with a future is the Catholicism of the Second Vatican Council. Continue Reading »
Recent papal history suggests that certain qualities are needed in the Bishop of Rome at this turbulent period in history. Continue Reading »
This latest display of Beijing’s intent to enforce communist power in Hong Kong coincides with the most recent persecution of Jimmy Lai. Continue Reading »
Protestants are drawn to Rome, though we define ourselves against it. Strictly speaking, we do not go there on pilgrimage. Yet we have always visited Rome, at once attracted and repulsed. It began in 1510, when Martin Luther took the trip that triggered the Reformation. “Rome, once the holiest . . . . Continue Reading »
Books like this are rare. The Pope Who Would Be King is one of the few publications that has made me commit a mortal sin—that of envy. I wish I could tell a story in such a colorful and lively way. Unlike David Kertzer’s tendentious works on Pius XI and Mussolini, I found myself . . . . Continue Reading »
On the centennial of John Paul II's birth, it is worth praising the pope whose death got this cradle Catholic to leave the cradle. Continue Reading »
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