Catholic World Report – Global Church news and views

The Dispatch

What the street tells me: Reflections in front of an abortion clinic

We are winning. This may seem an odd statement, particularly in light of the recent elections in my state of Virginia in which pro-abortion Democrats [...]
The Dispatch

Taiwan president appeals to Pope Francis over China’s ‘abuse of power’

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen has written to Pope Francis describing China’s aggression and persecution of religion [...]
The Dispatch

Before the 2020 Presidentiad begins in earnest….

Americans not obsessed with politics — that is, most Americans — will start paying serious attention to the 2020 presidential race after the February 3 [...]
The Dispatch

Beyond Tenebrae is a robust, winsome defense of Christian humanism

The legendary Georgetown professor Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., who died last year, was known for packing an introduction to liberal education in each of [...]
Analysis

SCOTUS to hear challenge to anti-Catholic school funding laws

In oral arguments tomorrow in the case of Espinoza v. Montana, the US Supreme Court will hear a direct challenge to the constitutionality of the [...]

SCOTUS to hear challenge to anti-Catholic school funding laws

Analysis

Thomas R. Ascik January 21, 2020 2

In oral arguments tomorrow in the case of Espinoza v. Montana, the US Supreme Court will hear a direct challenge to the constitutionality of the latter-19th century’s notoriously anti-Catholic—nowadays anti-religion—“Blaine Amendment,” of which 38 states [...]

Scruton: An Elegy

Essay

Dr. Jon Kirwan January 20, 2020 7

To those who knew him, Roger Scruton was a philosopher. Philosophy for him had little to do with that modern, tenured, and professorial guild that trades in logicism and dismisses wisdom as mere “folk psychology.” [...]

Books

“The rubrics are our friends!” A review of Ceremonies Explained for Servers

Peter M.J. Stravinskas January 19, 2020 2

Students of the Sacred Liturgy, liturgical “practitioners,” and liturgy buffs alike will recall works by Bishop Peter J. Elliott like Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite, Liturgical Question Box, and Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year. [...]

Features

In Europe’s least Catholic nation, the Church grows amid financial hardship

Ray Cavanaugh January 18, 2020 24

With little more than 15,000 registered Catholics in an overall population of 5.5 million, Finland has the lowest Catholic percentage of any European nation. However, recent years have seen the Catholic population rise by 3-4 [...]

Books

“The Catholic Priesthood”: Benedict XVI on priestly celibacy

Benedict XVI January 17, 2020 10

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the chapter “The Catholic Priesthood,” by Benedict XVI, as it appears in the book From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy, and the Crisis of the [...]

Analysis

Envy, hate, and the increase in violent anti-Semitism

Anne Hendershott January 16, 2020 3

While the New York Times continues to maintain that the Black Hebrew Israelites, a religious group that has been designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Leadership Center, is “not known for committing mass [...]

Books

The Late Hour: On Cardinal Sarah’s call to light and truth in a time of darkness

Timothy D. Lusch January 15, 2020 11

Some years ago, while on retreat with the Passionists, I listened to a Korean priest describe how he came to America. As a young man in Seoul he had money, girlfriends, a cool car, and [...]

Books

Looking into the Mirror of Islam

Dr. Samuel Gregg January 13, 2020 15

As anyone who’s visited Europe in the past 30 years knows, Islam is becoming more visible throughout the Old Continent. That presence isn’t as large as some believe. In 2016, the estimated Muslim population of [...]

Church, State, and the Internet

James Kalb January 6, 2020 11

Methods of communication have huge social effects. Before the written word people lived tribally. All communication was word-of-mouth, and social order was personal, local, and traditional. Religion was myth, custom, and folklore. Among the Old [...]
A Course Reversal? On R.R. Reno’s Return of the Strong Gods

James Kalb December 10, 2019 9
Thomism and Political Liberalism, Part 3

Joseph G. Trabbic December 8, 2019 14