A Paulist Priest’s Wonderful Life

by William Doino Jr.

At ninety-five, Fr. James Lloyd is the oldest living Paulist priest. But you’d never know that from following his busy schedule. Continue Reading »

24 Oct 2016

Celibacy, Self-Acceptance, And the Extra Inkling

by Eve Tushnet

Descent into Hell is a complex portrait of the relationship between the living and the dead. It's a book of apologetics written in the style of horror. And it's a book about acceptance. Continue Reading »

6 Sep 2016

Of Marriage and Orthodox Priests

by Wesley J. Smith

If anyone had asked me what I thought about Eastern Orthodoxy before I converted, I would have said it was basically a popeless Catholic Church, except that its priests can marry. My presumption was mostly wrong. While there are certainly important similarities between the theologies of world’s . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Oct 2015

Letters

by Various

BARTH'S LEGACY I am grateful to Phillip Cary for his admirable review of my book Reading Barth with Charity (April). I have only one demurral. I would simply like to enter a plea for greater historical consciousness. After all, it has not yet been fifty years since Barth’s death. It seems . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2015

Vivent les differences!

by Carl R. Trueman

David Mills has found himself in trouble—for making the stunning claim that conservative Catholics are not conservative Protestants, and conservative Protestants are not conservative Catholics. Continue Reading »

27 May 2015

Dismantling the Cross

by Patricia Snow

Generally speaking, there are two principal vocations in the life of the Catholic Church: marriage on the one hand, and celibate priesthood and religious life on the other. Both are expressions of conjugal love. In the normal calling of marriage, an individual binds himself for life to another human . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Apr 2015

“Celibacy for the Common Good”

by Wesley Hill

Celibacy is not simply a practice that improves an individual's self-mastery. It is a way of life that strengthens churches, communities, and cities. Continue Reading »

6 Mar 2015

The Way God Conducts Us

by Wesley Hill

At an academic conference not too long ago, I delivered a paper on St. Paul’s view of marriage and celibacy. In my paper, I took Paul’s side, extolling his vision of marriage and celibacy as interlocking, mutually reinforcing Christian vocations. On the one hand, I said, marriage can be a melody hummed by any pedestrian Christian couple that still calls to mind the full grandeur of the symphony of Christ’s love for the Church. Likewise, the Christian celibate can bear witness to that same love. By giving up the solace of an earthly spouse and the prospect of birthing heirs, the celibate gestures with her very body to a future time when “they neither marry nor are given in marriage . . . because they are equal to angels” (Luke 20:35, 36). Continue Reading »

6 Nov 2014

Marriage and Celibacy: Lifelong Grace One Day at a Time

by Betsy Childs Howard

While marriage and celibacy may technically be opposites, they have at least one thing in common. Both can seem overwhelming when one imagines them lasting for a lifetime. Continue Reading »

12 Feb 2014

Escaping the Prison of the Self

by Wesley Hill

C. S. Lewis once offered advice to a soon-to-be-married man on why he ought to avoid masturbation. But his rationale speaks to celibate Christians as well. Continue Reading »

10 Feb 2014