Posts Tagged ‘First Things’
Morning Catholic must-reads
More than 150,000 people from all over Italy flocked to St Peter’s Square on Sunday to express their solidarity with Benedict XVI.
Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will visit the Pope in June.
An Irish bishop has urged Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin to clarify his claim that “strong forces” in the Church want abuse cases to remain hidden.
A 12-man British police delegation was in Portugal last week to assess how to protect Pope Benedict during his visit to Britain.
People who live or work near Coventry Airport may be issued with access permits during the Pope’s visit in September, local police have said.
Cardinal Pell has downplayed suggestions that he will serve as the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec has clashed with local politicians over abortion.
Americans aged between 18 and 29 are increasingly opposed to abortion, a Gallup analysis has found.
The Vatican has signed a mobile phone agreement with Vodafone.
Scholars have met in Rome to discuss “the contribution of Christianity to representative government” (audio).
The Cardinal Newman Society unveils a list of the most controversial speakers at US Catholic colleges in 2010.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston reports on his first visit to Ave Maria University’s campus in Florida.
John Allen analyses why Pope Benedict may have had difficulty defending himself at the height of the abuse crisis.
Fr Anthony Chadwick says the future liturgy of Personal Ordinariates should be the Sarum Use.
Fr Seán Finnegan asks why bishops can sometimes seem to be uncharitable.
English parish priest Fr Ray Blake says he’s decided to use the new English translation of the Mass straight away.
The Irish Catholic newspaper mourns its long-serving columnist Fr Martin Tierney.
And the National Secular Society appeals for victims of clerical abuse to appear at protests during the Pope’s visit to Britain.
Today’s Catholic must-reads
The Pope’s remarks on the abuse crisis on the way to Portugal have prompted comment from, among others, John Allen, Ruth Gledhill, Rod Dreher, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and Kevin Clarke.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s frank address on the state of Irish Catholicism has also provoked comment from Fr James Martin SJ, Rod Dreher, James Mackey and John Cooney.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the SSPX, says the Pope sincerely desires to reach a canonical solution with the Society.
The Brazilian bishops are preparing to issue new guidelines to combat clerical abuse.
The Vatican City State has announced a major upgrade to its communications infrastructure.
Fr Joseph Fessio SJ takes issue with the Tablet’s recent report on Cardinal Christoph Schönborn’s criticisms of Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
Joseph Bottum of First Things issues a blunt call for Cardinal Sodano’s resignation.
And Paul Cat presents flow chart guide to the concept of mortal sin.
Morning Catholic must-reads
The leaders of the three main parties all gave their support to Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain in yesterday’s television debate (live blog at 8.46pm).
Benedict XVI has encouraged sick people to offer their sufferings for vocations.
Vatican Archbishop Agostino Marchetto has criticised European countries for turning away Africans fleeing persecution.
The Premier of Ontario has abandoned a plan to alter the province’s sex-education curriculum after publicly funded Catholic schools said they wouldn’t implement the changes.
Anglican George Pitcher applauds yesterday’s statement on abuse by the bishops of England and Wales.
Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco asks why any man would want to become a priest today.
Rome Reports profiles an 18-year-old member of Focolare who will be beatified in September (video).
David Gibson and Fr James Martin SJ consider what penance is and how we can do it.
Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart says New Atheism is destined to go the way of “pet rocks, disco, prime-time soaps and The Bridges of Madison County”.
Rod Dreher wonders if sometimes there is a religious obligation to kill others.
David Goldman at First Things welcomes South Park’s commitment to lampooning all the major world religions equally.
And Woody Allen discusses “the overwhelming bleakness of the universe” with Fr Robert Lauder.
Today’s Catholic must-reads
The National Catholic Reporter claims that the Legion of Christ regularly gave ‘bribes’ to three senior Vatican cardinals at the behest of their founder.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Hitler “wanted to steal” the Turin Shroud.
The New York Times says the Vatican’s bureaucracy is struggling to cope with the abuse crisis.
Ross Douthat suggests that “the post-scandal Catholic Church may end up more Rome-centric than ever”.
Joaquin Navarro-Valls has written a robust defence of the Pope.
A rabbi has called the media coverage of the Church abuse scandal “one-dimensional“.
Bishop William Lori says we should be thanking the Pope “for helping the Church confront this crisis in a way that benefits victims“.
Jason Berry assesses Cardinal Levada’s role in the Vatican’s “risky strategy against the media”.
Leonard Klein, a married Catholic priest, asks: “What can the Catholic Church learn from married priests?“.
And Andrew M Brown hails “a wonderful film that shows what the Catholic Church does best”.
Morning Catholic must-reads
A welter of articles defending the Pope’s handling of the abuse crisis have appeared in the wake of Fr Thomas Brundage’s revealing article on the “Murphy case”. Here are some notable ones: Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Thomas Collins, Archbishop Henryk Muszynski, the Executive Committee of the USCCB, Bill Donohue, the Anchoress, Jimmy Akin and Bess Twiston-Davies.
Andrew Brown says the Pope is not as powerful as many non-Catholics assume he is.
Tom McNichol of the Atlantic compares the abuse scandal to Watergate, dubbing it “papalgate“.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), doesn’t want Benedict XVI to resign. Kenneth Briggs disagrees.
And Sean Curnyn of First Things is transported by Johnny Cash’s biblically inspired last recording.
Morning Catholic must-reads
Pope Benedict XVI reflected on how different Western culture would be without the parable of the Prodigal Son in his Angelus address yesterday (full text, video).
The Church in Switzerland has said it is investigating 60 claims of sexual abuse by priests.
Campaigners in Germany are claiming that the Vatican helped Adolf Eichmann to escape to Argentina.
A talented Scottish politician has stepped down to play a key role in the Pope’s visit to Scotland.
The Catholic mother of Madeleine McCann has said she prays for the people who have kidnapped her daughter.
Lawyer Nicholas Cafardi reflects on the lessons of the Irish abuse crisis.
Zenit interviews the bishop of the world’s most dangerous city, Ciudad Juarez, where 2,660 people were killed last year.
An American bishop has denounced Protestants who are distributing the “reprehensible, discriminatory and bigoted” Chick tracts in his diocese.
NPR profiles the US bishops’ “point man” on abortion and healthcare reform.
And First Things celebrates the late, great Catholic film director Eric Rohmer.
Morning Catholic must-reads
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Rome’s Jewish museum as well as its Great Synagogue on Sunday (full programme here).
An Italian priest testifies that Pius XII helped Jewish people during World War Two.
Jewish and Catholic theologians are meeting to discuss the environment.
John Allen looks at the unsung work of a group of bishops from Europe, the United States and Canada who visit the Middle East as part of a Vatican initiative known as the “Holy Land Coordination”.
First Things revisits the problem of theodicy after the Haiti earthquake.
Fr Peter Stravinskas makes a robust defence of the new English translation of the Mass.
Simon Tisdall says Christians in the Muslim world are becoming scapegoats for anger about the “crusader West”
William Lind examines “Pope Benedict’s Counter-Reformation“.
Roberta Green Ahmanson contrasts two starkly different London art exhibitions.
Gregor Kollmorgen tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the almuce but were afraid to ask.
And Fr John Zuhlsdorf laments the bias against Catholic priests on Celebrity Cruises.
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