A sub-category of News.
I watched the EWTN interview of Bishop Strickland last night and had nightmares while I slept. The bishop, articulate and, to my mind, innocent of all irony, recounted what had happened in his process of deposition and professed his recognition of the pope’s authority and his obedience to his removal from office. The sincerity of…
One of the most common statements I’ve heard from Catholics over the past decade is, “We should give the pope the benefit of the doubt.” When someone criticizes Pope Francis for a questionable statement or action, you inevitably see some Catholics jumping in to say we need to give him the “benefit of the doubt.”…
Above: Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), Russia’s greatest philosopher. I will never forget my encounter with Vladimir Solovyov over ten years ago. I was living in an apartment with my Russian Orthodox friend and a few others. I was Antiochian Orthodox but we were both hoping to become Orthodox monks. We would pray the long monastic prayers…
At the recent global AI conference held in London in early November, Elon Musk gave an interview to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in which he warned that, pretty soon, the technology might become so advanced it would effectively put the entire human race out of work. According to Musk, as AI evolves, “there will…
Dear Tim, Thanks so much for your response to my recent essay regarding Eucharistic Revival and the Eucharistic Congress. You were so openhanded in offering me the benefit of your erudition and experience that I’m moved to reciprocate. I’ve been a communicator as a teacher, preacher, author, and broadcaster for 33 years, and my experience…
Above: portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo. Five centuries ago today, on November 18, 1523, after fifty days of conclave, “the most unfortunate of the Popes” was elected: Clement VII, whose original name was Giulio de’ Medici. Born in Florence 45 years earlier, in 1513 he was archbishop of Florence, and in 1517 he was cardinal…
I’m increasingly happy to even read a good book, as my life turns to parenthood. So, it’s not often that I write a book review—and almost never that I write an unprompted one. But every once in a while, there comes a book that deserves to be better known, and Dom Dysmas de Lassus’ Abuses…
This penultimate Sunday of the Liturgical Year brings us a pericope from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Thessalonians 1:2-10. Paul’s Letter could be one of his earliest, along with Galatians. Some scholars think it could be the earliest section of the New Testament. Thessalonica is in modern Greece. Paul visited there and converted both pagans (thus…
Since Bishop Strickland was unceremoniously removed from his post in Tyler, Texas, there have been some reactions that have been a bit nutty. Those who are aptly called “popesplainers”—someone who “splains” or explains for the pope, no matter what he does—have been having a victory parade online. Cries of “far-right extremist” and “extremist election denier”…
When the Cathedral bells swung five minutes before Mass last weekend, they seemed to know. The Ave sung with the Rosary was so mournful, you’d think someone had died. A light went out in Tyler on Saturday. The seat of the bishop is empty; the coat of arms will be replaced. We have all been…
