In the context of his Urbi et Orbi address on Easter Sunday, Pope Benedict observed that "nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees." An Italian-speaking friend tells me a better translation would be, "There is no good news from . . . . Continue Reading »
What was perhaps the most pro-Christian show on television did not have a single Christian character in it¯and there was no way it could have. Rome , the hit series that has just completed its second (and for now final) season on the cable channel HBO, turned out to be a surprising affirmation . . . . Continue Reading »
“Through Mary he received his humanity, and in receiving his humanity received humanity itself. Which is to say, through Mary he received us. In response to the angel’s strange announcement, Mary said yes. But only God knew that it would end up here at Golgotha, that it had to end up here. For . . . . Continue Reading »
A word in your ear ¯A well-known physicist told me that a popular blogger told him that an unnamed source told her that a distinguished elderly lady told the unnamed source that the pope told the distinguished elderly lady that the long-rumored motu proprio on the Latin Mass will appear on the . . . . Continue Reading »
To read René Girard is to want to slap one’s forehead and say, "Of course, why didn’t I think of that?" If I might pump up the volume on my praise a bit more, he is the direct opposite of that sad figure in George Eliot’s masterpiece Middlemarch , the Rev. Mr. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Passion account read at Mass on Palm Sunday this year was taken from the Gospel of Luke: "The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’ And they reviled him in saying . . . . Continue Reading »
Having apparently gone on a silent retreat during Lent, Pope Benedict’s long-rumored motu proprio on the Latin mass looks as though it may put on its new biretta and stroll out for the Easter Parade. It’s completely ready! says Le Figaro .Er, it’s maybe ready! says the Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »
Poor Tony Judt. The much-published author of such books as Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 and Past Imperfect , Judt recently took to the pages of the New York Times to review Michael Burleigh’s new volume, Sacred Causes . It was not what you might call a positive review: "This is . . . . Continue Reading »
In his book Seduced by Death , Herbert Hendin reported that one reason the Dutch people have not turned against their euthanasia law is that doctors and the media in Holland do not candidly report about the many abuses and violations of the law that occur with regard to their country’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Herewith a peek at a forthcoming installment of "The Public Square" in First Things . Darwin’s Conservatives: The Misguided Quest is a vigorous polemic by John G. West of the Discovery Institute . Dr. West properly takes to task prominent conservatives such as George Will and Charles . . . . Continue Reading »
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