The Narthex

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, has mandated that Catholic schools in his diocese use a child’s legal name, not substitutes a student, driven by gender ideology, might want. Congratulations to him for providing episcopal leadership! [To see McManus's policy, click here.] But, some may ask, doesn’t that harm…

A New Thack(eray) on the Dumbing Down of Reading and Culture In a recent Facebook post, Joe Bottum commented on a 1915 lecture in which the speaker threw around multiple literary allusions to William Makepeace Thackeray’s characters as if they were obvious to everyone. Truth is, a lot of them…

The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption, when the Blessed Virgin Mary, “at the end of her earthly life,” was taken body and soul into heaven. The feast is a logical extension of the Resurrection: the latter’s transfiguring power is intended to reach every one of Christ’s followers, of…

Conservative defenders of traditional Christian values often claim that many of the things they perceive as current threats to society -- radical sex education in primary schools, for example, or the notion of gender fluidity -- share a common origin. That they are in fact inspired by Marxism, which is…

Seventy-two years ago today, St. Maximilian Kolbe was murdered by a poison injection at Auschwitz, after about two weeks in a starvation bunker. Most probably on August 15 -- the feast of she to whom he was devoted -- his emaciated body went up in smoke through Auschwitz's crematorium chimney.…

"Listen to Him" In both last Sunday's Second Reading (from II Peter) and Gospel, we are exhorted (in the Gospel by no less than God the Father) to "listen to" Jesus. Peter, James, and John "listen" to that message from the bright cloud that overshines Mount Tabor; it would be…

California is a mixed bag, and here’s an example of just how mixed. We have a new Employee Ownership office, a government hub to help companies explore worker-owned models. The American Solidarity Party would applaud this effort. Indeed, its new party platform says: “We support regulatory and tax support to…

"Les extremes se touchent" means the extremes touch each other, they overlap. People say the Church’s teachings about sex and life are extreme, but the truly extreme, truly contradictory response comes from its opponents. That sex can give life and foster a unique spousal relationship is not some esoteric Catholic…

The day will come when the lands of China (and Muslim lands) will open to evangelism. China has been closed since 1949, 74 years. Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989 after 72 years. The Roman Empire legalized Christianity under the Edict of Milan in 313…

Treasures and Pearls Last Sunday's Gospel wrapped up three weeks of Matthew 13, the chapter replete with various parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. It's only natural, therefore, that most preaching focused on the Kingdom as the buried treasure or the pearl of great price. So when my pastor, Fr.…

Pro-abortionists in Ohio are pulling all stops to pass a state constitutional amendment by ballot referendum this November to ensconce abortion in the Buckeye State. The amendment is particularly aggressive because, in addition to wiping out all prenatal protections through birth (notwithstanding window-dressing language about "viability" that is promptly eviscerated…

On August 31, 1970, Bishop Walsh arrived at Kennedy Airport, New York City. He had last been in the United States in 1948. Greeting him were 200 people, including Terence Cardinal (now Servant of God) Cooke of New York, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan of Baltimore, seven more bishops, members of his…

Ukraine’s ongoing attack from Russia is now entering its seventeenth month. Russia continues its aggression, in part because it knows Western attention spans can be short and eager to “move on.” There’s nothing Moscow would like better. As a Polish American, let me tell you: the Central European perspective is…

Eyes (and Minds) Voting with Feet Most mornings I have a 20 minute wait at my bus stop. The shelter has one of those electronic ad boards, so I get to see a limited loop of what advertisers want to sell. It’s often a telling commentary on the world today,…

I call the imprisoned portion of Bishop Walsh’s life his contemplative ministry because of how he later described his activities in prison. He could not celebrate Mass and had neither breviary (the Church’s prayerbook) nor Bible, rosary, crucifix, or any image of Jesus or one of His saints. After he…