The Dispatch

Ironies in the fire

September 18, 2019 George Weigel 3

The eminent sociologist Peter Rossi was a world-class punster whose scholarly accomplishments fed a sometimes-whimsical view of the human condition — in which, Rossi memorably observed, “there are many ironies in the fire.”  That’s certainly […]

The Dispatch

Australian justice in the dock

September 11, 2019 George Weigel 19

Consider this sequence of events, familiar to some but evidently not to others: March 2013: Prior to any credible reports of misbehavior being made against Cardinal George Pell, police in Australia’s state of Victoria launch […]

The Dispatch

In praise of today’s seminarians

August 28, 2019 George Weigel 42

If you’re feeling a bit down about the future of Catholicism in the United States, ask yourself these questions: Why haven’t American seminaries emptied over the past 16 months, as Crisis 2.0 continues to roil […]

Features

Falsely, Matilda

August 22, 2019 George Weigel 100

Was it mere coincidence, or perhaps Providence, that Catholics around the world read Psalm 94 at Midday Prayer on August 21, hours after an appellate panel of three judges announced a 2-1 decision rejecting Cardinal […]

The Dispatch

Getting beyond Darwin

August 21, 2019 George Weigel 17

Bishop Robert Barron and others working hard to evangelize the “Nones” — young adults without religious conviction — tell us that a major obstacle to a None embracing Christianity is the cultural assumption that Science […]

The Dispatch

Lessons in virtue from Apollo 11

July 31, 2019 George Weigel 3

Fifty years ago this week, the crew of Apollo 11, the world’s latest heroes, were doing decidedly unheroic things: napping, drinking beer, playing cards, reading magazines, and otherwise killing time in the Manned Spacecraft Center’s […]

Analysis

The Vandals sack Rome….again

July 29, 2019 George Weigel 99

An exercise in raw intellectual vandalism has been underway in Rome since July 23: what was originally known as the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family has been peremptorily but systematically […]