Analysis

“Ideology” is the favorite boogey term of intellectual argumentation. Partisans of the Culture Wars and Ecclesial Wars agree on one point: the opposing position—but never one’s own—is always an ideology. “Republican ideology.” “Democratic ideology.” “Pope […]

Troppa frociaggine. It’s an Italian expression meaning “too much faggotry”—that’s not a rough translation, and the Italian word hits about as hard as the English—and Pope Francis reportedly used it in a closed-door gathering with […]

Much of the talk last week was about the new Vatican norms for the discernment of supernatural phenomena—apparitions especially, but not exclusively—presented at a press conference in Rome on Friday. The run-up to the presser […]

Recently the name of Hans Urs von Balthasar has been invoked to defend the concept of a more “feminine” Church. On reading some reports it seems that the invocation has now become a meme and […]

Tim Sullivan’s recent piece for the Associated Press on the state of the Church in America has made the rounds in Catholic circles, and it feels like a generally accurate snapshot of where things are and […]

The claim implicit in the title of the DDF’s recently published Declaration, Dignitas Infinita (DI), has generated considerable controversy. The matter of infinite dignity Do human beings have infinite dignity? Certainly, those who through baptism receive a share in the […]

Moral beliefs linger on after the reasons for them have been forgotten. We need only look at our own Western secular culture for an example of this. Morals without moorings In our culture, those who […]

Pope Francis has defrocked a Belgian bishop, 87-year-old Roger Vangheluwe, who is among the most notorious high-ranking clerics ever to face consequences for his perverse and criminal behavior. Good, one might say, but the defrocking—more […]