Rocco Buttiglione on Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

“Society has to defend itself to a certain extent against the tyranny of the [nihilist] state.” Rocco Buttiglione (Italian: [b. 6 June 1948) is an Italian Union of Christian and Centre Democrats politician and an academic. He was a close friend of Pope John Paul II. Buttiglione’s nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil… Read More Rocco Buttiglione on Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Dr. Ralph Martin on Bishop Barron and the fraught legacy of Francis

… and the Challenges for Leo. “In his May 12 article in First Things — “Francis is Full” — Bishop Robert Barron eloquently wrote of the late Pontiff’s many positive accomplishments as well as some very serious problems like a legacy of disunity. Bishop Barron’s evaluation of Pope Francis’ ministry provides a lens through which… Read More Dr. Ralph Martin on Bishop Barron and the fraught legacy of Francis

Michael Davies on the Indefectibility of the Mass of Paul VI.

by Michael Davies.From Catholic, October 1996. The Catholic Church was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son made Man. He has promised His Church that She will continue to exist exactly as He constituted her until He comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. The Catholic Church is the Church that is indefectible. The… Read More Michael Davies on the Indefectibility of the Mass of Paul VI.

Kathleen Stock on Wall to Wall Decadence and Roger Scruton

Stock on the related American jurisprudence: “it is bizarre to treat pornography as speech. It is a legal fiction“. “Philosopher and UnHerd writer Kathleen Stock joins Freddie Sayers to discuss one of the strangest and most revealing cultural moments of the year: the rise of ‘Bonnie Blue,’ the OnlyFans “pornstar” at the heart of a… Read More Kathleen Stock on Wall to Wall Decadence and Roger Scruton

John XXIII, Benedict XVI and Francis. 2015.

See also, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and a New World Order. Our complex theological predicament, which only the hierarchical Church may, in time, formally adjudicate. By Stephen Hand. 2015. If Francis and Cardinal Kasper have taught us anything over the past few years, it’s that without resurrecting that final “checkmate,” which popes from the… Read More John XXIII, Benedict XVI and Francis. 2015.

How Amy Coney Barrett’s close friendship could affect future of major supreme court Ed case

Recusal from case with huge implications for education could tilt scales in cause her friend spent a career defending. Linda Jacobson | The Guardian | Opinion / CC. On 30 April, the court will consider a legal question that has defined her career: can explicitly religious organizations operate charter schools? At the center of the dispute… Read More How Amy Coney Barrett’s close friendship could affect future of major supreme court Ed case

Is Shane Right?

He writes, “Pope Francis has already done irreparable damage to the office of the papacy itself. Never again will a (non-ex cathedra) papal teaching just be accepted by the Faithful without scrutiny or criticism. It is done. It cannot be undone. Francis has left his mark, and it’s permanent”. If we do not elect a… Read More Is Shane Right?

The Reformation: Historical Conditions, Unintended Consequences

Brad S. Gregory is Dorothy G. Griffin Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame, a world-class historian, and award-winning author of Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe and The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard… Read More The Reformation: Historical Conditions, Unintended Consequences

Archbishop Vigano’s Fate

A discussion between Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican magazine, and Fr. C. Murr on the reportedly imminent excommunication of Carlo Maria Viganò who served as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States 2011 to 2016. Archbishop Vigano previously served as secretary-general of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 2009 to 2011. Vatican officials have said that if such… Read More Archbishop Vigano’s Fate

NYT: Vatican Document Casts Gender Change and Fluidity as Threat to Human Dignity

“The statement is likely to be embraced by conservatives and stir consternation among L.G.B.T.Q. advocates who fear it will be used as a cudgel against transgender people.” The Vatican on Monday issued a new document approved by Pope Francis stating that the church believes that gender fluidity and transition surgery, as well as surrogacy, amount… Read More NYT: Vatican Document Casts Gender Change and Fluidity as Threat to Human Dignity

Gender Theory: “The Atomic Bomb of Nihilism”

Attacking the prevenient natural order, finitude itself, gender theory is ground zero. Dr. Margaret McCarthy, interviewed by Dr. Larry Chapp here, “received her doctoral degree in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute at the Lateran University in Rome (1994), with a dissertation on the contemporary theology of predestination.  Since then, her teaching and writing… Read More Gender Theory: “The Atomic Bomb of Nihilism”

What Counts as Magisterial Teaching?

Edward FeserFebruary 25, 2024 Popes speak infallibly when they either proclaim some doctrine ex cathedra, or reiterate some doctrine that has already been taught infallibly by virtue of being a consistent teaching of the ordinary magisterium of the Church for millennia.  Even when papal teaching is not infallible, it is normally owed “religious assent.”  However,… Read More What Counts as Magisterial Teaching?

National Catholic Register on Recent Vatican Statements on Baptism

Also, Dr Ralph Martin on the same.  1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents’ help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized. As Pope St. John Paul II beautifully put it in his theology of the body, “the body… Read More National Catholic Register on Recent Vatican Statements on Baptism

Cardinal Müller: Latest Vatican Guidance on Divorce-Remarried Communion Represents a ‘Rupture’ With Church Teaching

Solène Tadié Vatican October 17, 2023 NCRegister. “Eight years after a footnote in one of Pope Francis’ signature documents appeared to open the door for divorced-and-remarried Catholics to receive Communion while remaining sexually active, a new round of public conflicts over its doctrinal legitimacy has exposed just how unsettled the issue remains at the highest levels… Read More Cardinal Müller: Latest Vatican Guidance on Divorce-Remarried Communion Represents a ‘Rupture’ With Church Teaching

Pelosi says abortion is Democrats’ ticket to victory in 2024, accuses Republicans of ‘disrespect for women’

Updated. Nancy Pelosi vowed to reverse the end of Roe v. Wade ‘one way or another’ By Anders Hagstrom | Fox News Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged her fellow Democrats to put the abortion issue front and center in their 2024 campaigns, arguing Republicans will lose big on the issue across the country. Pelosi appeared… Read More Pelosi says abortion is Democrats’ ticket to victory in 2024, accuses Republicans of ‘disrespect for women’

Martini’s Endless Dream

Edward Pentin of the National Catholic Register wrote, “The former cardinal-archbishop of Milan [Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini], a favorite of those pushing for heterodox reforms in the Church, had envisioned a permanent synodal Church in which the idea of collegial governance introduced at the Second Vatican Council could be better realized.  The Jesuit biblical… Read More Martini’s Endless Dream

Addressing a “Different Kind of Crisis”? A New Introduction to Vatican II

…and Interview With the Authors, Shaun Blanchard and Stephen Bullivant. Note: The book under discussion here represents only one of a number of interpretations of Vatican II and it’s fruits which are found at this website. See Labels / Categories for others. — Editor. “There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that sometime in the 1950s,… Read More Addressing a “Different Kind of Crisis”? A New Introduction to Vatican II