The Narthex

Given the news cycle, the document Human Fraternity—issued by Pope Francis and Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar—has used up its 15 minutes of fame. But let’s ignore that secular cycle. The Grand Imam speaks on behalf of a major Muslim center of learning. Pope Francis needs no introduction.…

Our local senior center holds a well-attended bingo game once a week. “B-10,” a moderator announces by microphone, and a hundred heads nod to scan their cards. It’s a good money maker for city services while providing a needed social event. Our local parish does the same to provide funding…

NOR readers who follow our daily news links are no doubt up-to-the-minute on the clerical sex abuse crisis. But for anyone who needs a one-article summary of said crisis, I recommend Emma Green’s “Why Does the Catholic Church Keep Failing on Sexual Abuse?” in The Atlantic (Feb. 14). Besides a…

Former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Gerhard Cardinal Müller issued a "Manifesto of Faith" last week.  Many within the Church hailed the document as both necessary and timely.  Others responded less positively, attacking his manifesto as animated by a spirit of division and comparing him…

Dysfunction is the order of day, and at every level. Each of us, I’ll wager, wants to tell someone  “get your act together.” Plenty of people think that I need to hear the same message. And someone, no doubt, thinks that you, gentle reader, need to as well. Of course,…

Recently someone asked me, “what would be the first thing you would do if you were suddenly elected Pope?”  Although it was only a thought experiment, coming up with a single, first act was difficult.  The weight of spiritually fathering billions of people must be both daunting and crushing.  Ultimately…

Ask me “what’s your angle?” around 7 am. If I can summon the strength, I’ll say that in five minutes or so, if I’m upright, I’ll be at a 90 degree angle from the floor. It might take a few tries, though. Graceful, I'm not. Intellectual angles matter even more…

It’s been over 50 years since I taught physics and math ― not the most popular subjects, compared to hands-on training in auto mechanics at a vocational trade school in Beacon Hill. My young students were a rambunctious lot, shooting spit balls and flying paper planes when I entered to…

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced support for hearing more from women in the Church. According to Crux (Jan. 31) this week he and the Vatican were offered advice from prominent survivor of clerical sexual abuse Marie Collins. In fact the sturdy Irishwoman, who was appointed by Pope Francis to the…

The Protestant Revolution was not the only revolution of the 16th Century.  Just three years prior to Luther’s presentation of his 95 Theses there was an even more earth shattering revolution started by Nicolas Copernicus.  The Copernican revolution posited that the Earth was not the center of the cosmos but…

It was 1953 when I found myself at 11 years old tuning into Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s weekly Tuesday night commentaries on our black and white television. I don’t know how I got motivated to watch him every week, because my parents weren’t into Catholicism. I was raised a Catholic,…

This time I kept my sign. Heck, I could have been the model for it. On one side there’s a silhouette of a “senior” wearing what looks like my cap. His cane is like one we keep handy at home. On the other side, there’s a Gospel truth: Toda Vida…

For three days in the winter of 1077, King Henry IV of Germany knelt barefoot in the snow, clad in a coarse wool shirt, outside a castle gate in northern Italy.  Inside the castle was Pope St. Gregory VII.  The king desperately wanted the Pope to hear his confession and…

A few preliminaries. I myself, personally, am not that old. Now my friend, and NOR stalwart, Jim Schall, SJ, is really old. He's 91 and counting. Pero como anciano sereno, no viejo nervioso. Still, a week ago on my birthday my little sister sent me a “chipper” card that read: “May your…

Since its promulgation in 1995, St. John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae has become like a pro-life manifesto.  It is often cited not just for its eloquence but for its passionate defense of the great dignity of human life.  The saintly pontiff is quick to point out not just the…