We’re all on edge. Only this morning, two of my neighbors were bickering in the lobby of our building. I was saddened but not surprised by the acrimony. The virus makes us anxious about our health and that of those we love. Public health measures put civic life on hold. Many of our cities are . . . . Continue Reading »
Fifty years ago, the Catholic Church marked the First Sunday of Advent with the universal implementation of the revised Roman Rite of the Mass. The liturgy wars have not abated since. Continue Reading »
Contrary to both traditionalist and progressive misconceptions, Catholicism was not a placid institution, free of controversy and contention, prior to Vatican II. Continue Reading »
The current crisis in the global Church is not the worst crisis in Catholic history, but it is bad enough. Nor is it confined to the scandals of clerical sexual abuse and malfeasant Church leadership, though those scandals crystallize its meaning and implications. Today’s crisis must be properly . . . . Continue Reading »
Several years ago, I came across some odd volumes of the journal of Julien Green in a Paris secondhand shop. I had never heard of him, but a few minutes’ browsing convinced me not only to buy the books but to track down the others—which proved to be nineteen volumes altogether. (Even . . . . Continue Reading »