The Great Places
ROME. Because the media drama of the papacy often has St. Peter’s for its stage, many Catholics may not know that the Patriarchal Vatican Archbasilica isn’t the Pope’s cathedral. St.
Sectarian’ issues? Not quite.
Catholics feel so at home in the United States that they can joke about the times when their faith was a severe impediment to high national office. After Al Smith’s
How "alt." Lost the Kingdom — and Why It Matters
Back in the day, before the parish repertoire was expanded to accommodate the hymn sandwich (the “opening hymn” and “closing hymn”), the “offertory hymn,” and the almost-never-sung-by-parishioners “communion hymn,” Catholics
Humanae Vitae At Forty
It’s hard to imagine a less auspicious time for the reception of a papal encyclical reaffirming the Church’s classic teaching on the morally appropriate means of family planning than the
Converting England — and Us
In 1850, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman wrote his fellow-Englishmen from Rome, announcing that Pius IX had restored the diocesan hierarchy in England and that he, Wiseman, would be cardinal archbishop of
On the Death, and Aging, of Princes
The death of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin this past May 13 marked the passing of one of world Catholicism’s noblemen. Born in what was then the French colony of
The Presumptions of a Pastoral Letter
Twenty-five years ago, in early May 1983, the Catholic bishops of the United States approved what many imagined would be a historic public policy statement: The Challenge of Peace [TCOP].
Latin Days Are Here Again?
Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes
The Pope and the Universities
Benedict XVI had barely left the Catholic University of America on April 17 when the Catholic higher education establishment’s spin machine shifted into high gear. One university president said that
A Papal Follow-Up
Amidst some splendid Catholic theater, there were a lot of ideas to chew on in Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States. The pope’s sermon in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in
The End of the Caricature
Forty-eight hours into his visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI had done something remarkable: he had successfully buried the cartoon Joseph Ratzinger, a nasty caricature created decades earlier
Adding Spice to the American Mix
Pope Benedict XVI’s first papal incursion into the United States is, basically, a trip to the United Nations with a pastoral visit wrapped around it. For the life of the
Popular Articles
We Are Not Morons
The End of Euphemism
