Chapp’s Schtick

I usually ignore the writings of Michael Sean Winters at the National Catholic Reporter. However, a friend of mine emailed me a link to Winter’s latest piece. As I expected, it was the usual boilerplate […]

Much ink has already been spilled on the topic of Pope Leo XIV, and I have no great insights to offer on how he will guide the Church. I am reminded of a conversation a […]

One thing keeps rattling around in my head as I travel around Rome and chat with various folks: the sense that there is a “business as usual” air about the election of the next pope. […]

In a relatively unknown interview with Fr. Jacque Servais, SJ, the late Pope Benedict XVI was asked about the apparent change in the Church’s doctrine concerning the salvation of the unbaptized. Fr. Servais begins by pointing […]

When reading Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s Flee From Heresy: A Catholic Guide to Ancient and Modern Errors, I was reminded of a shameful act from my youth. My then six-year-old younger sister complained to me one […]

One of the primary problems with the implementation of a more “synodal” Church is that there seems to be a double standard in play. Rome speaks a good game about wanting to develop more “collaborative” […]

America Magazine recently ran an article by Mary McAuliffe entitled “Women and LGBTQ Catholics are paying the price for church unity” (Jan. 2, 2024). The essay is completely unremarkable except insofar as it underscores and […]

Amy Welborn recently penned a spot-on analysis of the recent missive from Cardinal Blase Cupich informing the members of his diocese that kneeling to receive communion is no longer permitted. Cardinal Cupich does not explicitly […]

Deep nihilism and deceptive scientism Our culture is nihilistic. This is a fundamental premise that guides almost everything I write about. The deep nihilism of modernity is the air that we breathe—our deep worldview of […]

The senior writer at Commonweal magazine, Paul Baumann, has penned a thoughtful essay, titled “Pope Francis & Augustine”, on the current acrimonious debates between various ecclesial factions on the topic of the papacy of Pope […]