General
Month: December 2014
Special Report
The Holy See Commemorated a Trio of Anniversaries in 2014
In 2014, the Holy See observed three major historical milestones, all of which were virtually ignored in the global press. This past year marked the 85th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts establishing sovereignty for Vatican […]
General
Georg Ratzinger travels to Rome to visit his brother
Regensburg, December 29, 2014 (kath.net/KNA). Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, former music director of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the Boys’ Choir of the Cathedral in Regensburg, flew on Monday from Munich to Rome to visit his brother, Pope […]
General
If Pope Francis is a “radical” environmentalist, what was Pope Benedict XVI?
I ask the question because I made the mistake of reading an article, “Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches,” written by John Vidal for The Guardian (Dec. 27th), and […]
Analysis
Catholicism and Environmentalism
What are Catholics to make of the big environmental questions: climate change, deforestation and habitat loss, water quality and water shortages, the extinction of species, fossil fuels? How compatible is environmental activism with Catholicism? What […]
General
The 14 Most Popular CWR Stories of 2014
Last year, the most read article on the CWR site—by a notable margin—was a September 2013 blog post by Italian journalist Alessandra Nucci about Trappist nuns in Syria. This year, the most read article on […]
General
2014: The Year the Culture War Divide Became Deeper, Darker, and Weirder
In the late 1990s, I found myself in the awkward position of explaining the appeal of World Youth Day and Catholicism to a table full of intimidating adults, most of whom were twice or thrice […]
Interview
Catholicism in New York City
Rev. George William Rutler, 69, is pastor of the Church of St. Michael in New York City. He was raised in the Episcopal tradition while growing up in the Northeast, and served nine years as […]
General
Pontifical Council for Culture stumbles with clueless video aimed at women
Update: The English version of the video discussed below has been removed from YouTube. The Italian version can be viewed on the Pontifical Council for Culture website, or here: A recent YouTube video released by […]
Sojourns with Schall
On Violence
Everyone is familiar with the principle, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It is in fact a “principle”. As such, it is not a bad one. It was an effort […]