The Catholic Difference is a weekly column syndicated by the Archdiocese of Denver.
The Pignedoli Principle
In light of the many speculations about papabili after February’s consistory, I am pleased to announce the Pignedoli Principle, to wit: a man’s chances of becoming pope decrease in proportion
Born Again, Fifty Years Ago
When I first started working with evangelical Protestants some fifteen years ago, I was struck by the singular way these brethren would introduce themselves at a meeting where few present
Busyness, Misconstrued
Driving down a Washington thoroughfare recently, I was passed by a Metrobus with a stunning rear advertisement—so stunning, in fact, that I pulled in behind the bus at its next
The Beauty of the Crucified Lord
GLASGOW. In the decade since I was last here, one thing certainly hasn’t changed: that distinctive Glaswegian accent, almost incomprehensible to the unaccustomed ear. In other ways, though, Glasgow is
The New Eugenics
LONDON. Just before I began to speak to some twenty members of the British House of Commons and House of Lords on the Pope’s analysis of the challenges to twenty-first
Past and Future
From the moment the Great Jubilee of 2000 was announced in the 1994 apostolic letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente [The Coming Third Millennium], it was clear that, for John Paul II, the
Lincoln in Rome
On February 24, as the newly-created Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., tall and craggy of face, processed up the aisle of his titular church, resplendent in miter and pectoral cross and
Words for Weddings
Serving weddings was always a prize assignment in pre-conciliar Catholicism, although not necessarily for the noblest of reasons. Assuming a generous groom or best man, serving a wedding may have
Martyrdom Today
As John Paul II has relentlessly reminded the Church for twenty-two years, we live in the greatest age of martyrdom in Christian history. Thanks to Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and
Revisiting Franz Werfel
A few months ago, facing a fifteen-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, I called a friend, a distinguished literary critic, and asked, “What are the big great novels
Whose Fringe? What Mainstream?
The Ashcroft confirmation hearings in January reinforced the intuition that virtually all American politics since the Cold War has become abortion politics. The former Missouri senator’s opponents (including such Catholics
Election Numbers Once More
John Green of the University of Akron may know as much about which Americans vote for which candidates and why as anyone in the country. In a recent seminar at
Popular Articles
On the New “Nationalism”
In Memoriam, 2017
