![Detail from 'Crucifixion' (c.1315) by Giotto di Bondone [WikiArt.org]](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files.catholicworldreport.com/2018/04/4668crucifixion_00000004277-326x245.jpg)
The Dispatch
Good Friday, Death, and Christian Life
Mary weeps at the foot of the cross, and we weep with her. But we also must not stop there. For beyond the cross of […]
Articles by Dr. Randall B. Smith
Features
Rights, Catholic Principles, and Prudence
When we have political disputes in the country, one way of trying to help clarify matters would be to remind the interlocutors of the relevant moral principles that should govern their disagreement. Murdering innocent people […]
Features
Bishops, borders, and the (bully) pulpit
“Texas Bishop Taking on Greg Abbott Gets Pope Francis’ Protection” is the curious title of an April 30th article in Newsweek. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso needs “protection” from Greg Abbott? Are there Texas […]
Features
When a virtue-signaling Archbishop is more politician than pastor
I am loath to criticize the bishops, or even a bishop, for several reasons. First, it’s too easy, and it is too likely to make the writer popular in a bad way. Second, bishops are […]
Features
The rule of law, not of bishops
I have for years been arguing that the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church should have been — and in the future should be — adjudicated by Church tribunals according to the provisions of […]
Essay
In Memoriam: Thomas Gordon Smith (1948-2021)—A life spent serving Beauty
I have long been fascinated by the project of the late Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) to renew the Catholic appreciation of beauty as a means by which God calls us to Himself. And yet, […]
The Dispatch
Things my wife wishes they had covered in RCIA
I am an adult convert to Catholicism, as is my wife. She entered the Church after we were married and knew even less about Catholicism than I did when I entered, which wasn’t much. Because […]
Essay
What kind of relationship with God?
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part essay. Read Part One here. One sometimes hears preachers exhort their congregations to enter into a “relationship” with God. I have no desire to diminish […]
Essay
What kind of relationship? On the “one”, the “many”, and things in the world
Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a two-part essay. Read Part Two here. Should we consider “relation” a transcendental property of Being? That may seem an odd question. The transcendental properties of Being are […]
Essay
From our house to “God’s house”
If the recent coronavirus pandemic has revealed anything to us, it should be how badly we house many of our elderly. But “house” is perhaps not the right term. Instead of “housing” them, we too […]