On “Owning” the Church
The question of “who owns the Church” has had a stormy history in Catholic America, although the terms of reference have changed considerably over time. In the nineteenth century, “lay
A Lent to Remember
Purchase a copy of Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches here. View a special slideshow preview of the photos in Roman Pilgrimage: The best Lent of my life involved getting up
Theology isn’t Math; but it is Theology
During the heyday of the Solidarity movement, a famous Polish slogan had it that, “For Poland to be Poland, 2 + 2 Must Always = 4.” It was a quirky
A “Merciless Assault on Human Dignity”
The archbishop of Toronto is given to deprecating himself as “just a simple country cardinal.” In my experience, though, Cardinal Thomas Collins is one of the premier leaders of the
Christmas and Living Beyond Fear
Thanks to the crèche, introduced to Western Christendom by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223, the Christmas story has become seamless: a unified tale with a single cast of characters,
Christmas and the Divine Proximity
In October 2001 I had a long conversation with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. It was but weeks after 9/11; a new century and millennium were opening before us; and I wanted
Books for Christmas 2016
Take a stand against the electrification of reading and consider the following, in properly bound form, as gifts for those on your Christmas—not “Holiday”—list: Exodus, by Thomas Joseph White, OP,
A (Liturgical) New Year’s Resolution
If the civil new year is an occasion to resolve to Do Better in the future, the liturgical new year, the real new year that begins at First Vespers on
The Washington Post and the Church of Me
My local paper, the Washington Post, is best read for its sports and op-ed pages and its often-sensible editorials on foreign policy. Alas, the Post editorial board’s IQ drops well
Biblical Preaching and Healing the Culture
If Catholics in the United States are going to be healers of our wounded culture, we’re going to have to learn to see the world through lenses ground by biblical
Easter is not a Question Mark
Excavating my desk recently, I found the program notes from a Tallis Scholars concert my wife and I had attended a few months ago. The Tallis Scholars are a marvelous
Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches
The annual Lenten pilgrimage to dozens of Rome’s most striking churches is a sacred tradition dating back almost two millennia, to the earliest days of Christianity. Along this historic spiritual
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Easter is not a Question Mark
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