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| Anger Management: Looking Back on the Amish School Shooting |
| Susan Windley-Daoust |
When, last year, the Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania forgave the gunman who killed five young girls, millions watched in awe. Some were disgusted. Have we learned anything since about what makes forgiveness possible?
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| 10.03.07 |
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| Love Against Fear: A Review of 'A Mighty Heart' |
| John Murphy |
| In �A Mighty Heart,� there�s no missing Angelina Jolie�s pillowy lips and striking bone structure. Yet distraction soon yields to admiration for her focused performance in this compelling new film about the kidnapping of American journalist Daniel Pearl. |
| 07.06.07 |
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| Will the Virginia Tech Tragedy Change Us? |
| Johann Christoph Arnold |
| Senseless violence and death won�t be overcome by sitting, numbly glued to the TV, watching as the story is played and replayed over and over again. |
| 04.19.07 |
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| Into Great Silence: Looking Back on the Monastic Life |
| Sophie Andersen |
| As I sat in the dark theater watching 'Into Great Silence,' my thoughts drifting back to my former monastic life, I suddenly grasped the meaning of director Philip Groning�s stated goal: To create a film experience that actually �transforms into a monastery.� |
| 03.30.07 |
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| Lent and Reality |
| Peter John Cameron O.P. |
| There�s a reason why Lent begins with the command, �Remember that you are dust!� God doesn�t judge us on our ethical blamelessness, but on the way we approach reality. |
| 03.22.07 |
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| The Deadliest Sin |
| Brian Pessaro |
| There was a time when I looked upon certain types of Catholics with disdain. But I've since learned that the future of the Church doesn't depend on my being its self-appointed bouncer. |
| 03.22.07 |
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| I Was in Prison, and You Tortured Me |
| Paul Grenier |
| There exists today a category of prisoners whom no one can visit, detainees who are isolated from outside visitors because, we are told, the �alternative methods of interrogation� being used against them are among our country�s �most sensitive national security secrets.� |
| 03.04.07 |
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| A GodSpy Interview with William T. Cavanaugh |
| John Romanowsky |
| Few theologians have been more radically orthodox in mining Catholic tradition to explain the 'death of God' in modern societies than Dr. William T. Cavanaugh. We spoke to him recently about the Eucharist, politics, consumerism, war, and how Catholics can repair the rift between faith and li... |
| 02.11.07 |
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| Apocalypto: Mel�s Mayan Book of Revelation |
| John Murphy |
With his ferocious new ultraviolent action movie set during the waning days of the Mayan empire, Mel Gibson delivers the uncompromising vision of an art-house indie filmmaker.
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| 12.14.06 |
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| Non Serviam: Martin Scorcese's 'The Departed' |
| Matthew Lickona |
| If you look past the brutal violence, the harsh language, and the stark portrayal of evil (hey, it�s a Scorcese movie), you�ll find that in �The Departed� goodness is worthwhile for reasons deeper than earthly success or happiness. |
| 11.08.06 |
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| The Eucharistic Life of the Saints |
| Br. Hugh Vincent Dyer, OP |
| The saints in heaven are caught up in the great mystery of love, and they pray that we too will come to know the love that satisfies all human desire. |
| 10.30.06 |
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| A Proper Scaring |
| Kathleen Lundquist |
During my pilgrimage to Milledgeville, where Flannery O�Connor once lived, I found myself before her burial site, with my hand on her gravestone, asking for her blessing. I wasn�t sure what to expect. Least of all what happened next.
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| 09.25.06 |
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| A Heart of Stone Breaks: Oliver Stone�s 'World Trade Center' |
| John Murphy |
The most shocking thing about 'World Trade Center' is how little it resembles a typical Oliver Stone movie. With this film, Stone has discovered his inner idealist. Unfortunately, in the process, he managed to misplace his inner artist.
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| 09.13.06 |
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| 9/11 � and 9/16 |
| Christopher M. Zimmerman |
| The annual Tribute in Light for 9/11 is impressive, but a little known tradition that begins on 9/16 reminds us that there's only one light that can heal the deepest wound and overcome the worst fear. |
| 09.11.06 |
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| An Interview with Paola Binetti |
| Daniel Mansueto |
| Don�t try to label Italian Senator Paola Binetti. She�s a pro-life Catholic psychoanalyst who belongs to both Opus Dei and Italy�s Center-Left governing party. We spoke to her recently about Opus Dei, The Da Vinci Code, the politics of abortion, Italy�s birthrate, and the Italians� love of beauty an... |
| 07.26.06 |
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| Cool Jesus |
| Rebecca Robinson |
For more than two decades Cool Jesus has been right by my side. He�s got a big toothy smile, he hates my Church, and he�s always telling me I�ve got it all wrong. But he never tells me what�s right.
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| 07.26.06 |
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| Porn and the Sacred Heart |
| Patrick Still |
| From the time I was introduced to hardcore porn when I was eleven, I had been counting on marital sex to eventually save me from my obsession. But Jesus had something else in mind. |
| 06.20.06 |
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| My Tallahassee Purgatory |
| Brian Pessaro |
Will I be such a different person when God is done with me that I�ll look upon Tallahassee with new eyes, and laugh at the fool I was for ever wanting to leave?
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| 06.16.06 |
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| Soccer as Sacrament at World Cup Time |
| Nathan F. Elmore |
| There we sat, a ragamuffin band of 20-something Americans uniting with other disparate believers from vastly different worlds�all in the name of �the beautiful game.� Such is the way of Soccer. |
| 06.15.06 |
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| Under The Collar: An Interview with Jonathan Englert |
| Angelo Matera |
| Why would a man become a priest today? To answer that question Jonathan Englert spent a year with five seminarians, and wrote about it in his new book, �The Collar.� We spoke to him recently about his experience, and the future of the priesthood. |
| 05.04.06 |
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| How It Happened: United 93 |
| John Murphy |
| Director Paul Greengrass�s powerful new movie about United Flight 93 respects what the terrorists did not: the dignity of every human aboard that plane, including, ironically, the terrorists themselves. |
| 05.04.06 |
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| Reflections on Karol in Heaven |
| Brian Kennedy |
| John Paul II has been dead a year, but still won�t leave my head. I never knew the man, yet when I was lost from the faith, his presence as pontiff kept me from dismissing the Church completely. |
| 05.04.06 |
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| Our Easter Challenge: To Live a Luminous Life |
| Br. Bruno M. Shah, O.P. |
| After an intense Lent and a glorious Holy Week, it�s all too easy to lapse into a spiritual hangover. Some thoughts on keeping the Easter flame burning through the season, and beyond. |
| 04.17.06 |
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| Unleashing the Laity (or, how to revive a Catholic parish) |
| Harold Fickett |
| It's been forty years since Vatican II and we're still waiting for lay Catholics to get energized. But a priest in Boston (yes, Boston) may have found the key to church renewal at the parish level: Let the laity loose. |
| 04.14.06 |
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| A View from Outside: An Interview with Wim Wenders |
| Spencer Lewerenz |
| Acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders has always loved America, and although he lives here now, he still sees his adopted country with the eyes of an outsider. That perspective informs his two most recent movies, both set in the U.S. We spoke to him recently about politics, religion, Hollywood, and... |
| 04.14.06 |
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| Screwtape On 'The DaVinci Code' |
| Eric Metaxas |
| My dear Wormwood, here is a book (and soon, a movie!) filled with such a precariously towering heap of our very best non-thinking that it is quite dizzying! It has the potential to mislead, confuse, and vex millions! Its name? The DaVinci Code. |
| 03.29.06 |
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| Saving Marriage: An Interview with Matt Daniels |
| John Romanowsky |
| Matt Daniels grew up poor and fatherless in Spanish Harlem. Now he�s one of the leading advocates for the traditional family, who�s built a multicultural coalition around his Alliance For Marriage, and the campaign for a federal amendment to preserve marriage as a union between a man and a woman.&nb... |
| 03.28.06 |
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| W for Wanker: A Review of �V for Vendetta� |
| John Zmirak |
| Movies inspired by the Catholic rebel Guy Fawkes don�t come around often. But �V for Vendetta� is a disappointing tract in support of terrorism�a wish fulfillment fantasy worthy of Christopher Hitchens. |
| 03.27.06 |
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| Mary�s Silence: An Annunciation Meditation |
| Br. Hugh Vincent Dyer O.P. |
| In silence we�re able to hear the Word speak, but our time is deaf to the silence. In the midst of Lent, on the Feast of the Annunciation, we can look to Mary to teach us how to become attuned to the gift of silence. |
| 03.24.06 |
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| Crunchy Cons Rising: An Interview with Rod Dreher |
| Angelo Matera |
| When Rod Dreher wrote an article for National Review confessing to being a Birkenstock wearing, countercultural conservative, hundreds of emails and letters of support came pouring in. Now he�s published �Crunchy Cons��a manifesto that celebrates faith, family, community and nature against the force... |
| 02.24.06 |
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| Paradise Lost: The Films of Terrence Malick |
| John Murphy |
| Terrence Malick has made just four movies in three decades, but each one is marked by a singular religious vision�man fallen from grace, disconnected from nature, divided against himself. |
| 02.24.06 |
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| Power and Responsibility |
| Romano Guardini |
| Fifty years ago, Romano Guardini�one of the twentieth century�s most important Catholic thinkers�anticipated how technology would change our world, and recommended a course of action for the post-Christian era. |
| 02.24.06 |
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| All About God: An Interview with Eric Metaxas |
| John Zmirak |
| According to Eric Metaxas, you�d have to be insane to write a book with the title �Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask).� But he did it anyway, and explains why in this interview. |
| 02.14.06 |
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| Pope Benedict�s Heavenly Vision of Erotic Love |
| Christopher West |
| Christianity isn�t opposed to erotic love�on the contrary, it seeks to rescue it from degradation, and restore it to the type of love that never fades or fails. |
| 02.13.06 |
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| Confessions of an Undercover Virgin |
| Anna Broadway |
| I was having a good time dating men who had no idea I was an undercover virgin�until I was outed by Rolling Stone magazine. That�s when I discovered what real chastity was all about. |
| 02.10.06 |
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| After Dover: An Interview with Michael Behe |
| Angelo Matera |
| The Dover court case over the teaching of Intelligent Design theory in public school biology classes ended with defeat for the pro-ID school board earlier this month. We spoke to Dr. Michael Behe, a leading critic of Darwinism, about the trial, his testimony, and the future of Intelligent Design. |
| 01.26.06 |
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| Desperate Episcopalians |
| Matthew Lickona |
| If you need proof that liberal religion is completely exhausted, tune in to �The Book of Daniel.� Despite all the hype, NBC�s controversial new series violates television�s most important taboo: It makes sin boring. |
| 01.16.06 |
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| To Build the Church |
| Lorenzo Albacete |
| Our task is not a cultural battle as such, even if others see it that way and struggle against us and we must resist. Our task is to build the Church. |
| 01.06.06 |
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| Return of the Kong |
| John Murphy |
| Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' is a marvel�a massive, special-effects extravaganza that dares to ask: Is it better to die for Love and Beauty, or live alone and unloved as King of the Jungle? |
| 01.03.06 |
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| Unveiling Opus Dei: An Interview with John L. Allen |
| John Romanowsky |
| Does Opus Dei deserve the infamy inspired by The Da Vinci Code? Or are they at the forefront of bringing the encounter with God into everyday life? We spoke to acclaimed Vatican journalist John L. Allen Jr. about his book on Opus Dei, and the reality behind the perception. |
| 12.22.05 |
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| Prodigal Daughter: An Interview with Anne Rice |
| Jessica Mesman |
| Anne Rice's fans were shocked by her return to the Catholic Church, and her new novel 'Christ the Lord.' But as fellow New Orleans native Jessica Mesman makes clear in this interview, we shouldn't be so surprised. |
| 12.08.05 |
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| The Masculinity of the Priest: An Interview with Father Stephen J. Rossetti |
| Angelo Matera |
| In 'The Joy of Priesthood', Fr. Stephen J. Rossetti has written a modern manifesto for priests, one that captures the paradox of the priest's nobility�and humility. We spoke to him about the recent Vatican document on homosexuality and the priesthood, and why priests need an integrated m... |
| 12.08.05 |
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| Father Matrix |
| Matthew Lickona |
| The recruiting poster showed a young Catholic priest in cassock and sunglasses, doing his best impression of Neo from �The Matrix.� The priest as hero. Is there a problem with that? |
| 12.08.05 |
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| Cracking Shakespeare's Catholic Code: An interview with Clare Asquith |
| Debra Murphy |
| While there's mounting evidence that William Shakespeare was a believing Catholic, or at least raised that way, no one's yet dared to argue that his plays actually contain a layer of dissident Catholic meaning�until Clare Asquith. We spoke with her about her revolutionary new book, 'Shad... |
| 11.22.05 |
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| Walk the Line: Love Is A Burning Thing |
| Ron Wall |
| 'Walk the Line' tells the story of Johnny Cash's formative early years, as he struggles through tragedy, fame, addiction�and, most of all, how to get June Carter to marry him. |
| 11.21.05 |
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| Christians Behind the Screen: An Interview with Barbara Nicolosi |
| John Romanowsky |
| Is Hollywood the devil�s playground or God�s mission field? We spoke to Act One's Barbara Nicolosi, co-editor of �Behind the Screen,� a new collection of essays by Christian Hollywood insiders, to get the latest on the upcoming Narnia, Left Behind, and Da Vinci Code movies, and industry reaction... |
| 11.10.05 |
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| Lunar Park: Brett Easton Ellis Grows Up |
| John Murphy |
| �Lunar Park� is the latest novel from nihilism�s literary poster boy, Brett Easton Ellis, and not surprisingly, it doesn�t shy away from the dark side of human nature. But this time Ellis faces down his own demons, and delivers his most compelling work yet. |
| 11.10.05 |
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| Charles de Foucauld: A life hidden with Christ |
| David Scott |
| Charles de Foucauld, who will be beatified in Rome on Sunday, was a modern desert father, an explorer of the soul, a martyr, and a beacon for the �atomic century.� |
| 11.10.05 |
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| Andrea Dworkin and Me |
| Maggie Gallagher |
| To most conservatives, Andrea Dworkin was an expletive to be deleted. But her recent death brought back the time when the infamous feminist invited me, the unknown young conservative, to tea, where we shared glimpses of the same truth. |
| 10.28.05 |
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| November 5, Guy Fawkes Day: Go Out with a Bang |
| John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak |
| Every Nov. 5th the English celebrate the day in 1605 that Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes and friends�a group we might call Al-Chiesa�tried and failed to blow up Parliament. This year marks the 400th anniversary. There's no reason Catholics can't enjoy it too�while giving it a bit of a twist... |
| 10.28.05 |
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| Menace on the F-train Turns to Music |
| Angelo Stagnaro |
| I was on the New York City subway, reading St. Teresa of Avila, when four big, bad, loud kids entered my car. I expected trouble. What I didn�t expect was a lesson in Catholic creativity. |
| 10.17.05 |
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| Worried about Being Left Behind? |
| Charles Moore |
| Pre-millennial madness, like that of the 'Left Behind' series, fails to make sense of the Jesus of history and the new reality he entrusts to his people. |
| 10.17.05 |
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| God�s Risk�Our Freedom |
| Ronald Rolheiser, OMI |
| Why is there so much sin and evil in the world? God built us on a razor�s edge, so full of godly fire that we are capable of both martyrdom and murder. |
| 10.03.05 |
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| Counter Culture: An Interview with Press Critic Michael Massing |
| Angelo Matera |
| Media executives protect their profits and entertainers defend their rights, but most parents are concerned about the effects of toxic popular culture on their children. Is it time for a national debate? We spoke with press critic and investigative reporter Michael Massing about this issue, and his ... |
| 09.26.05 |
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| John Roberts�Mystery Man |
| Paul Green |
| Will Chief Justice Roberts vote to overturn Roe v. Wade or not? After his masterfully ambiguous testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, all we�re really left with is a big, fat �stay tuned.� |
| 09.26.05 |
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| The Seminarian: Father-to-Be |
| Daniel Scheidt |
| What exactly is a priest anyway? With the debate about who should or should not become one heating up, it�s time to talk fundamentals�and in the priesthood there�s nothing more fundamental than fatherhood. |
| 09.26.05 |
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| Reconnecting with Reality: An Interview with Caleb Stegall |
| David L. Jones |
| Caleb Stegall is editor of The New Pantagruel, an online magazine with a radically new vision for humanity and the world�one that�s neither left nor right-wing, but rooted in ancient tradition, nature, and Christian revelation. We spoke to him about what�s wrong with the modern world�and what we sho... |
| 09.19.05 |
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| Project Benedict |
| Hartwig Bouillon |
| World Youth Day dumbfounded a skeptical German media. More than one million joyful young pilgrims invaded Cologne, cheered Benedict XVI and openly prayed. Here�s how an unassuming Pope plans to re-evangelize Europe. |
| 09.19.05 |
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| Elegy for New Orleans |
| Charles A. Coulombe |
| Behind all the recent cliches and stereotypes about New Orleans lies the colorful and complex drama of a messy, human, uniquely American, and deeply Catholic culture. Here's what was really washed over by the flood waters of Katrina. |
| 09.19.05 |
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| The Monk under the Mitre |
| Austen Ivereigh |
| Benedict XVI�s first World Youth Day was less a flag-waving crusade and more a meditation for a silent retreat. And surprisingly�in this age of CNN and MTV�it worked. |
| 09.09.05 |
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| After Katrina |
| Jessica Mesman |
| New Orleans made me a Catholic, or at least the kind of Catholic I am. It always seemed to have body and soul�the sacred and the profane locked in constant embrace. |
| 09.09.05 |
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| Emily Rose�s Exorcism�and Mine |
| John Zmirak |
| Movies about the supernatural sometimes have devastating effects on people�especially Catholic boys with neurotic dispositions, prodigious reading habits, and powerful imaginations. Just ask John Zmirak about �The Omen.� |
| 09.09.05 |
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| Living with God�s Passion: An Interview with David Scott |
| John Romanowsky |
| In his latest book, �The Catholic Passion,� David Scott takes his readers on a refreshingly human journey of faith through the stories of flesh and blood believers down through the centuries. We spoke to him about his book and his own experience of God�s passion as a husband, father, and writer. |
| 08.29.05 |
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| The Fight for Truth |
| Paul Chu |
| The internal struggle to hold onto the truth and live in the light is like being a swimmer�a swimmer always at the point of becoming a drowner. |
| 08.29.05 |
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| Killing Women and Children First |
| John Zmirak |
| The 60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us that so long as the world�s most powerful nations continue to target cities�innocent civilians�with nuclear weapons, our condemnations of �terror� will ring hollow. |
| 08.15.05 |
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| I am protesting, protesting |
| Bryan Kemper |
| In the fight against abortion there�s a time and place for protests or the use of graphic photos. However, protesting the women seeking abortion is not something we should do at all. |
| 07.29.05 |
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| Planning My Wedding and Searching My Soul, Part 2 |
| Kristen Glenn |
| Part of me is happily ordering invitations and selecting bridal attire; the other half is picking apart my relationship with Michael, and contemplating the haunting advice of my well-meaning mother: 'Don�t get married. Marriage is hell.' |
| 07.29.05 |
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| Director Volker Schlondorff Talks About �The Ninth Day' |
| Steven D. Greydanus |
| Volker Schlondorff was so intrigued by the real-life story of a Catholic priest forced by his Nazi captors to make a life and death choice, he had to film it. �I have a hard time,� says the Jesuit-educated filmmaker, �making any decision whatsoever.� |
| 06.17.05 |
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| In Praise of Fatherhood |
| Johann Christoph Arnold |
| Life in today�s world is life in a war zone, and too many fathers are unwilling to be called up�to be soldiers, twenty-four hours a day, on their own home front. |
| 06.17.05 |
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| The Joy of Food: What We Can Learn From French Women |
| Zoë Saint-Paul |
| Why are American women on South Beach with Dr.Atkins counting carbs in The Zone while their French sisters are living it up with wine, four course meals and fine chocolate? In her best-selling diet book 'French Women Don't Get Fat' Mireille Guiliano hints at the spiritual roots of Americ... |
| 06.10.05 |
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| True Confessions of a Young Catholic: An Interview with Matthew Lickona |
| Angelo Matera |
| In his new spiritual memoir, �Swimming with Scapulars,� 30-year-old Matthew Lickona lays bare the soul of a young traditional Catholic. We spoke to him recently about his book, his faith, and what it�s like to be the literary envoy for the �New Faithful� Catholic revival. |
| 05.16.05 |
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| Benedict XVI: A Co-Worker of the Truth |
| Adrian Walker |
| The new Pope doesn�t fit into the stale narrative of 'liberals' and 'conservatives' upon which journalists have relied to interpret the post-Vatican II Church. In his own deepest self-understanding, Benedict has never been anything but a �co-worker of the truth.� |
| 05.16.05 |
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| John Paul II and the Art of the Sacred |
| Sophie Masson |
| Many people were critical of John Paul II because they regarded him as too conservative. But many others were equally critical because he was too liberal. This is the story of one such family, and why one member of it changed her mind. |
| 05.16.05 |
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| Four Myths About Pope Benedict XVI |
| Brian Saint-Paul |
| While some journalists have been quite fair in their reporting on the new pope, unfortunately, they stand as the exceptions. Mostly we've heard a string of inaccuracies and inanities. Here are the four most common myths about Pope Benedict XVI. |
| 04.27.05 |
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| Benedict XVI: A New Peace Pope |
| Michael Griffin |
| Just as John Paul II repeatedly cried out to the world, 'War never again!' the new pope has taken the name of the one who first made that cry, Benedict XV, commonly known as 'the peace pope.' |
| 04.27.05 |
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| A Gift for Friendship: Luigi Giussani |
| Gregory Wolfe |
| He said he never intended to found anything, and I believe him. But Father Luigi Giussani, the founder of the Communion & Liberation movement, had a gift for friendship. When his funeral mass was celebrated in Milan this past February, thirty thousand of his companions were there. The principal ... |
| 04.27.05 |
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| A Portrait of the Pope as a Young Artist |
| David Scott |
| John Paul II, a religious poet and lifelong man of the theater, was passionately convinced that poets, writers, sculptors, painters, architects, musicians and actors had a crucial role to play in �the new evangelization� of the world. |
| 04.15.05 |
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| John Paul II: Disciple of Christ |
| J. Fraser Field |
| While paying homage to the Pope, the secular media has been careful to separate the greatness of the man from the faith he held and from the ideas he preached. |
| 04.15.05 |
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| John Paul, the Great: The Misunderstood Pope |
| Debra Murphy |
| Media pundits who've been harping all week on the Pope�s �strict adherence to traditional Catholic morality and doctrine� have it wrong. The fact is, John Paul II forged one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries. |
| 04.08.05 |
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| The Pope at the Garden |
| John Zmirak |
| I was a 14-year-old Catholic high school freshman when I first saw John Paul II at Madison Square Garden in 1979. I remember thinking: 'What a charming man. A pity he has such old-fashioned ideas.� Little did I know� |
| 04.04.05 |
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| Goodbye, Holy Father�Hello, Heavenly Poet |
| David Pearson |
| To read �The Poetry of John Paul II: Roman Triptych, Meditations,� is to be taken to a corner of this great man�s heart, where unexpected artifacts point to Jesus Christ as the answer to the question that is human life itself. |
| 04.04.05 |
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| I Am Michael Schiavo |
| John Zmirak |
| We like to think that we�re better than the man who�s starving his sick wife to death. But think back to Palm Sunday. What part of �Crucify him!� didn�t you understand? |
| 03.28.05 |
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| The Bible and the Death Penalty: An Interview with Dale S. Recinella |
| William Bole |
| Dale S. Recinella left his law firm to become a lay Catholic chaplain to condemned prisoners in the Bible Belt. When he realized good Christians were supporting the death penalty because they thought it was in the Bible, he began to research the issue. The results were surprising. |
| 03.24.05 |
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| The Pause |
| Christopher M. Rossomondo |
| In truth, we do not know why St. John paused outside the Empty Tomb. But we know that at times we have all paused there with him. |
| 03.24.05 |
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| Catholics Should Not Be Conflicted on the Issue of Torture |
| Paul Likoudis |
| During the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General, Americans debated what was once non-debatable: Is torture justified? Just about everyone took a stand�except for conservative religious groups. |
| 03.14.05 |
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| Dishonor at Guantanamo |
| Jendi Reiter |
| The post-sixties generation is now grown up. Why did we ever believe that, if given the choice, the children of liberation would always make love, not war? |
| 03.14.05 |
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| Judging �Million Dollar Baby� |
| Meredith Gould and Ruth Harrigan |
| For the two of us, going to a movie requires planning. It's hard to be spontaneous when you're in a wheelchair, or trudging along beside one. But nothing was going to keep us from judging Clint Eastwood's controversial new movie for ourselves. |
| 02.25.05 |
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| Killing Terri Schiavo |
| Rev. Robert Johansen |
| Terri Schiavo, the cognitively disabled woman whose husband is attempting to have her denied food and fluids, will be starved to death beginning March 18, unless the courts intervene. This is her story. |
| 02.25.05 |
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| Divorce, American Style: An Interview with Bai Macfarlane |
| Zoë Romanowsky |
| Her high-profile Catholic marriage�and divorce case�has sparked a debate about the injustice of no-fault divorce and the tragedy of marital abandonment. We spoke to Bai Macfarlane about her struggle to reform civil and ecclesial marriage laws in the U.S. |
| 02.14.05 |
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| Radical Union |
| Mary Beth Newkumet |
| Celibacy is the radical path that the world finds hard to fathom, but which allows the men and women called to it to offer themselves freely to every person, loving intimately and profoundly �with the freedom of God.� |
| 02.12.05 |
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| The Buttiglione Case As Seen By Buttiglione |
| Rocco Buttiglione |
| Europe is looking for its path. In order to discover its path, in order to discover Christ as an adequate response to the desire of the heart of man, it is necessary that there be Christians who give testimony, who have the courage to be that which they are. |
| 01.28.05 |
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| Finding Feminism |
| Meredith Gould |
| Imagine my surprise: I'm with a bunch of women and I'm having fun. Were these women at my local parish the sisterhood I�d been looking for my entire life? |
| 01.28.05 |
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| Into Iraq With 'Generation Kill': An Interview with Evan Wright |
| Angelo Matera |
| Evan Wright spent two months living with twenty-three marines from First Recon, the elite unit who spearheaded the invasion of Iraq. In magazine articles and his book �Generation Kill�, Wright chronicled the triumphs and horrors�physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual�that these marines endured. W... |
| 01.05.05 |
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| Plastic Sinners, Plastic Sins |
| Caleb Stegall |
| From King David to St. Augustine, Christian tradition affirms the value of bold, strong sins. But the culture of porn has given us the simpering, self-justifying, and machine-like sins of Bill Bennett and Bill Clinton. |
| 01.05.05 |
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| Welcome to Our Brave New World: An Interview with Wesley J. Smith |
| John Zmirak |
| Wesley Smith has exposed corporate corruption with Ralph Nader, and warned against the eugenic implications of the �right to die� movement. In his new book, �A Consumer�s Guide to a Brave New World,� he tells how the Biotech industry�s push for stem cell research and human cloning threatens the righ... |
| 12.15.04 |
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| About a Lad |
| Thomas D. Sullivan |
What�s it like to start your career�and your adult life�at the sleazy men�s magazine �Maxim?� In his painfully honest book, �Lads: A Memoir of Manhood�, Dave Itzkoff bares his soul.
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| 12.15.04 |
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| Her Saving Grace |
| David Scott |
| The dramatic story of the Immaculate Conception, defined 150 years ago today, is the story of a new creation�for the world and for the human race. |
| 12.08.04 |
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| Augustine: Now and Forever |
| William Bole |
| 1,650 years since his birth, today's debates on waging just war and seeking interior peace are reflections of St. Augustine's continuing legacy. |
| 11.15.04 |
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| Faith, Politics and the Scandal of Christ |
| Lorenzo Albacete |
| The national chaplain for the international Catholic lay movement 'Communion and Liberation' explains their 2004 election statement: 'A Call to Freedom,' and why Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem of religion and politics. |
| 11.03.04 |
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| The Simple Life Redux: An Interview with Eric Brende |
| John Zmirak |
| Paris and Nicole? Who cares? Eric Brende, a graduate of hi-tech bastion MIT, and his new wife Mary, moved to a community so primitive in its technology that even Amish groups considered it antiquated. Here�s their story. |
| 11.01.04 |
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| Small is Still Beautiful: An Interview with Joseph Pearce |
| Angelo Matera |
| Who was E.F. Schumacher? And why should Catholics be interested in his ideas? Best-selling Catholic author Joseph Pearce explains why �small is still beautiful,� and how Schumacher influenced his own conversion to Catholicism. |
| 10.25.04 |
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| Pretty as a Picture: A Review of 'Therese' |
| Debra Murphy |
| The �Thérèse� movie is as pretty as a Thomas Kinkaide painting�and that�s the problem. Thérèse Martin�s spiritual battle against ravenous emptiness was anything but pretty. |
| 10.13.04 |
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| Ben Franklin and the Mouse: Multi-Tasking in America |
| Eric Scheske |
| Multi-tasking is as American as General Motors. Old Ben Franklin would have loved it. But when I realized I couldn�t do anything anymore without wanting to do something else at the same time�it scared me. |
| 10.13.04 |
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| Et Tu, Buddha? Beautiful Blasphemies, Heartfelt Heresies |
| Read Mercer Schuchardt |
| �Killing the Buddha: A Heretic�s Bible� is a weeping beauty of a book, edited by �two religiously flippant intellectuals� who think they�re swimming against the tide. But what the authors have mistaken for heresy is, in fact, electronic culture�s orthodoxy. |
| 10.01.04 |
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| Lindsay Younce: A Godspy Interview |
| Tony Rossi |
| When Lindsay Younce was a Quaker, she believed Catholics weren�t Christians. But she eventually found her way to the Church, and to the lead role in the new movie, Thérèse. Here�s her story. |
| 10.01.04 |
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| Dark Young Thoughts |
| John Zmirak |
| For all his cultural libertinism, director Stephen Fry imbues his new film, 'Bright Young Things'� an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh�s 'Vile Bodies'� with more of a Christian spirit than Waugh�s pre-Catholic novel ever had. |
| 09.25.04 |
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| On War and Abortion: A French Emigrant's View |
| Michele Szekely |
| From where I stand, I see a line being drawn in the sand, with the war in Iraq on one side and abortion on the other. Each side offers a cohesive worldview, but with one large, blind spot. |
| 09.25.04 |
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| Blade Runner: What It Means to Be Human |
| John W. Whitehead |
| When it opened in 1982, Ridley Scott�s movie �Blade Runner� was a box office flop. But the world�s top scientists recently voted it best science fiction film ever. Maybe now the film will finally gain the audience it deserves. |
| 09.15.04 |
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| The Elephant in the Room: Ground Zero, Three Years Later |
| Lorenzo Albacete |
| We will not understand our present situation adequately if we fail to perceive its basis as a religious war. In the end, our future depends on the encounter between religion, critical reasoning, and humility. |
| 09.08.04 |
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| It�s the End of the (Real) World as We Know It |
| Susan Lloyd |
| I�m a cradle Catholic who considers being in a coma the only valid excuse for missing Sunday Mass. You�d think I�d be done saying goodbye to the world. Guess again. |
| 09.08.04 |
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| Love of Enemies |
| Brother Roger |
| In these times of bitter rivalry and enmity in the Church and elsewhere, we should remember that love of one's opponents is what characterizes the disciples of Christ. |
| 08.23.04 |
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| The Glorious Truth About Power |
| Mary Beth Newkumet |
| Only a radical dependence upon Christ allows us true freedom from the anxiety inherent in both competition and powerlessness. |
| 08.23.04 |
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| The Elephant at the Convention |
| David Morrison |
| I agree with Kerry and the Democrats; America needs to start a conversation about our obligations toward the weak and underprivileged. But the Democratic Party�s unqualified support of abortion precludes that discussion. |
| 08.02.04 |
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| True Lies and the Quest for 'Authenticity' |
| Sophie Masson |
| Are an author's emotional or deeply-held beliefs enough to make a work �authentic?� That�s the disturbing reasoning behind two recent journalistic hoaxes. |
| 08.02.04 |
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| The Transfiguration: Trinkets on Mt. Tabor |
| John Zmirak |
| The Transfiguration reminds us that God left the apostles with no excuse for doubt. The Father spelled things out, as if to ask, �What part of �THIS IS MY SON� didn�t you understand?� |
| 08.02.04 |
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| Even Our Virtues Must Be Burned Away |
| Jennifer Ferrara |
| Flannery O�Connor knew that a culture that doesn't understand the importance of �uselessness��utter dependence�will be a culture in which abortion is widespread, and mentally challenged babies will be the first to go. |
| 07.26.04 |
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| Laid Waste |
| Meredith Gould |
| Hearing my neighbor�s teenage daughter having sex outside my window made me think about my own youthful sex antics�and their lasting negative consequences. |
| 07.26.04 |
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| I, Evangelizer |
| Zoë Romanowsky |
| If, as Catholics, we�re called to evangelize and spread the Gospel, isn�t it the duty of the Church to make it possible for us to do this? |
| 07.19.04 |
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| Corporations Gone Wild? |
| Thomas D. Sullivan |
| All except the most extreme capitalists will find something to be outraged about in the new documentary film �The Corporation.� |
| 07.19.04 |
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| Be Kind to 'Vegetables' |
| David C. Reardon |
| By starving 'vegetative' patients to death, are we not denying God the opportunity to work miracles? Are we not rejecting an opportunity to practice sacrificial love? |
| 07.12.04 |
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| Monte Cassino and the Freedom of the Soul |
| John Radzilowski |
| Somewhere in his journey from the Soviet gulags, through the battlefields of Italy, to his new homeland in the U.S., my friend Stasiek found a freedom of the soul at which I can only marvel. |
| 07.05.04 |
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| Downsizing Civilization |
| Christopher DeSales |
| In �The Empty Cradle,� Phillip Longman delivers a bracing diagnosis of a liberal disease: falling birth rates and a coming population implosion. But his liberal cures fall laughably short. |
| 06.28.04 |
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| Should We Regret Our Sins? |
| Brother Roger of Taizé |
| Regret keeps us focused on ourselves. When I repent, however, I turn towards God, forgetting myself and surrendering myself to him. |
| 06.28.04 |
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| The Pope and the Politics of Forgiveness |
| William Bole |
| Suicide bombings, assassinations, and unilateral wars haven�t brought us any closer to peace in the Middle East. Maybe it�s time to listen to the Pope. |
| 06.22.04 |
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| The Story of a Satirical Soul: Tony Hendra�s |
| Thomas D. Sullivan |
| Never mind Andrew Sullivan. Tony Hendra�s �Father Joe� is not a brief against the Vatican. It�s about the limitless, all-embracing love that transforms the soul of a satirist. |
| 06.14.04 |
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| Of a President and a Pope |
| John Zmirak |
| Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II shared more than a distaste for communism. They shared an ability to read the signs of the times and act accordingly. |
| 06.14.04 |
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| The Communion Controversy, or 'almost beside the point' |
| Fr. Joseph F. Wilson |
| It is the birthright of a Catholic to be born into the Family of God, to be raised in the Faith, to be formed by the Gospel and the Catholic Tradition. It is a shameful situation that so many have been robbed of this birthright. |
| 06.02.04 |
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| Pentecost: Because Fire is Cool! |
| John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak |
| We like to celebrate the birthday of the Church with fire, fancy, and foreigners�Try these flambé recipes and risky (if not quite risqué) games. |
| 05.26.04 |
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| Violence, The Passion and the Blood of the Poor |
| Mark and Louise Zwick |
| We were hesitant to see "The Passion of the Christ" after hearing about the violence, since our lives are filled with violence. We were quite surprised by our reaction. |
| 05.18.04 |
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| Ovaries and Rosaries |
| Mary Beth Newkumet |
| The woman�s sign read 'Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.' How sad, I thought, when only the Catholic Church takes the full truth about our ovaries seriously. |
| 05.10.04 |
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| Cleophas� Wife |
| Edward Mulholland |
| For Cleophas, one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, returning to Jerusalem meant not only facing the religious authorities, but the "I told ya so" from his wife, Mary, one of the first witnesses to the resurrection. |
| 05.04.04 |
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| Planning My Wedding and Searching My Soul, Part 1. |
| Kristen Glenn |
| I put my hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth. That�s when the worries started: Was I getting married because my fertility was slipping away? Because I was tired of being chaste? |
| 04.20.04 |
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| Walker Percy: Doctor of the Soul |
| Gregory Wolfe |
| Those who read Walker Percy will find not only a brilliant diagnosis of what ails modern man, but a prescription for a full and lasting cure. |
| 04.20.04 |
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| A Year After Iraq: Catholic Just War Doctrine |
| Fr. Alfonso Aquilar, LC |
| The recent anniversary of the US-led Iraq invasion reminds us that, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has said, the just war doctrine needs to be updated to take account of new realities. |
| 04.08.04 |
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| Living in Spin |
| Zoë Romanowsky |
| Are the female media elite, who edit the women's magazines we buy and host the news programs we watch, feeding us negative, destructive messages that don�t reflect our lives? In her new book, �Spin Sisters�, Myrna Blyth answers yes. |
| 04.01.04 |
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| First Friday in Lent |
| Jessica Mesman |
| There�s a 16-year-old girl in me somewhere. She's in there, pounding a fist on my organs and screaming �You are not important!� and �Nobody loves you enough!� When will I be rid of her? |
| 03.26.04 |
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| Music for the End of Time |
| Michael Linton |
| In the middle of a prison camp, a prisoner unsure if he would ever again see his family or home again, Olivier Messiaen composed a vision of heaven where anger, violence, vengeance, and despair are not so much repressed as irrelevant. |
| 03.15.04 |
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| Kill Jesus Vol. I? |
| Mark Lickona |
| Filmgoers reared on the extreme cinematic violence of Tarantino, Scorcese and even Gibson are flocking to The Passion, drawn to the brutal reality of Jesus� death. But do buckets of blood drown the person of Christ? |
| 03.12.04 |
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| The Sacrament of Matrimony |
| Paula Huston |
| It was a great surprise to me to discover that the Church does bar the gates at times, requiring the annulment of my first marriage. My decision to proceed was not so much brave as it was desperate� |
| 03.09.04 |
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| Art, Beauty and the Transfiguration |
| Gregory Wolfe |
At its best, art transfigures the world around us for a brief time, strives to let the radiance of truth, goodness, and beauty flash out for an instant.
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| 03.03.04 |
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| I Am Pontius Pilate |
| Linda Dickey |
| Like Pontius Pilate in The Passion, my hands aren�t clean. Although I see myself as nice, as harmless, as a good girl, I am brimming full of sin. |
| 03.01.04 |
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| Two Zen Men and a Christian at The Passion |
| Dave Sloan |
My friends Gene and Hamilton are fiercely honest spiritual seekers. As we watched The Passion together in silence, I knew they would allow their hearts to be rent by the torture and killing of this man called The Christ.
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| 02.27.04 |
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| Gay Marriage and the Collective Lie |
| Harold Fickett |
| We are called to love one another, but real love must be grounded in truth. What I would say to Andrew Sullivan then is, I love you, but don't ask me to lie. |
| 02.25.04 |
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| The Real Peace Brokers |
| Zoe Romanowsky |
| The Christian community in the Holy Land is disappearing, and with it maybe the last best hope for peace in the Middle East. |
| 02.25.04 |
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| A Tale of Two McNamaras |
| Mark Lickona |
| Errol Morris� �The Fog of War,� a documentary about former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, reveals that what our complex modern world needs more than anything else is the simplicity of the martyr. |
| 02.11.04 |
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| Life and Mysticism |
| Lorenzo Albacete |
| The remedy for the abortion tragedy is not a refined moral sensibility, but an authentic mysticism. |
| 01.28.04 |
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| Coming Out Catholic |
| Linda Dickey |
| I was a modern, middle-aged, happily married, upper-middle-class, New York Jewish mother who'd unaccountably been given a vision. I'd been caught in Peter's net, and I was filled with joy. It was time to go public. |
| 01.14.04 |
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| Eternity in the Here and Now |
| Harold Fickett |
The glittering prizes of secularism are vanity, as is life itself without its extension into eternity. On the other hand, the most humble life when seen under the aspect of eternity is invested with an unimaginable glory.
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| 01.07.04 |
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| The Humility of the Flesh |
| By Lorenzo Albacete |
The Church is not a vague, undefined, abstract reality, but a people in the flesh in the midst of this world, placing Christ at its center, "incarnating" Christ in the world of human flesh.
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| 12.24.03 |
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| Sowing Seeds and Feeding Ant Hill |
| Russell L. Ford |
I think a lot about dying in prison. For non-Catholics it must be terrifying. For the Catholic, it's not such a bad place from which to go to Heaven.
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| 12.03.03 |
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| Never Tell: One Rule Made to be Broken |
| Dave Sloan |
We don't wallow in the fact of incest, tortuous abuse that devastated some of the people we care about the most. But we do talk about it. It's no fun, but "don't tell," is the abuser's dictum, and that dictum must be violated.
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| 11.19.03 |
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| An Adopted Child, Closer than Blood |
| Jack Smith |
| A woman who had carried a child for nine months, given birth to him and cared for him for three days was about to hand this precious gift out of her arms to my wife. It was a scene I didn't want to deal with. |
| 11.05.03 |
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| Love vs.Willpower |
| Peter John Cameron, O.P. |
What do we need to master our shortcomings? Many of us might jump to the conclusion that the key to our predicament is more willpower. But we would be wrong.
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| 10.30.03 |
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| Can I Get A Witness? |
| Bill Christensen |
As she lay in bed with a failing heart, Mother Teresa heard Jesus speaking to her through the voice of Pope John Paul II. When he said, "please don't die", she had no choice but to lovingly obey.
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| 10.15.03 |
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| The Natural Mysticism of Children |
| Paul Chu |
| Children assume that the reality of the boundless universe far exceeds their own limited experience � while many adults think they know it all, have seen it all, have done it all, and have it all under control. |
| 10.01.03 |
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| Encountering the Scourged Christ |
| Jack Smith |
| They complained. They whined. They borrowed money and never paid me back. Was I really supposed to see an image of Christ in these guys? |
| 09.17.03 |
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| Saint or Sinner, Satan or God? |
| E.J. Park |
| What was the movie The Truman Show all about? Was it pro-God or anti-God? Is Truman a saint or a sinner? Is Christof Satan or God? Erasmus and Luther debate the question. |
| 09.17.03 |
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