A sub-category of News.
When you read these words, the Holy Father may have recovered from his illness, or not. Whichever may be the case, His Holiness is not immortal, and a new pontificate is likelier to come sooner than later. When that day arrives, we all doubtless have our own hopes as to who might emerge from the…
Above: US President Trump and Elon Musk, together with a special guest. President Trump once said in reference to the arithmetic-defying 2020 election results that “if you are a bank robber, or you’re a jewelry store robber, and you go into Tiffany’s and you steal their diamonds and get caught, you have to give the…
Above: Bonnie Prince Charlie. Late January and early February feature several anniversaries observed by various enthusiasts across the globe: January 25 is Burns Night, beloved by Burns and St. Andrew’s Societies as well as Scots in general everywhere; January 30, the day on which Charles I was murdered by Oliver Cromwell in 1649; January 31,…
Late in the 19th century, when the question of votes for women was controversial even among those well on the left side of political opinion, Lord Salisbury—the longest serving prime minister of the Victorian era and leader of its staunchest conservatives—had no objection to female suffrage. Committed to the traditional view that holders of elected…
Immigration is an issue with a unique American twist because we are, for the most part, a nation of immigrants. As Bill Murray said in the movie Stripes, “We’re Americans! And you know what that means? It means our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world.” In the current debate, though,…
When I first heard Donald Trump’s plan to help Israel remove the Palestinian population of Gaza—over two million people by most accounts—and turn Gaza into the “riviera of the Middle East,” I thought it was a joke. Since the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering nearly 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping almost…
At the time of this writing, Pope Francis is in critical condition at Gemelli University Hospital in Rome with a complex case of pneumonia in both lungs and early-stage kidney failure. Before all else, we pray for his well-being and peace. But death is in the air. The Swiss Guard have held funeral rehearsals. The…
Let’s face it, there will always be people of privilege—the so-called Beautiful People—armed with advantages far beyond the reach of everyone else. Beyond even the wildest dreams of everyone else. “You are truly rich,” wrote Henry James, whose stories are filled with such people, “if you can meet the demands of your imagination.” Such people…
On the day of President Trump’s near-assassination, July 13, 2024, I was the priest who met him, spoke with him, and prayed for him. In that private moment, I witnessed firsthand a man who spoke with conviction about the struggle for justice for the long-suffering Ukrainian people, particularly regarding Ukraine’s sovereignty and the need to…
Our Mass formularies for pre-Lent and Lent go back to at least the time of St. Gregory the Great (+604), and certainly before. What was going on back in the day? Plague and famine had ravaged the population. The invading Lombards threatened Rome itself with sword and fire. Both for Septuagesima and this Sexagesima Sunda…
