Converting England -- and Us

Posted: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
"English = Protestant" has been replaced by a new equation: "English = Multiculturally P.C." Evensong is still sung superbly in King's College chapel, Cambridge; but the psalms and canticles echo amidst the real absence. Bunyan's Pilgrim has come to an even deeper slough: not of despond, but of spiritual apathy and boredom.  [Full Story]

On the Death, and Aging, of Princes

Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Cardinal Bernardin Gantin's self-effacing humility paved the way for Cardinal Ratzinger, as his replacement as Dean of the College of Cardinals, to preside over the general congregations of cardinals that followed the death of John Paul II and to be the principal concelebrant and the homilist at John Paul's funeral Mass.  [Full Story]

The Hate Disease

Posted: Thursday, July 17, 2008
The next president of the United States should take a close look at Dr. Attah Abu Al-Subh; so should the people who will elect the 44th president. Dr. Al-Subh is not your random nutter. He is, by all appearances, a distinguished gentleman in late middle-age -- the refined face of Hamas. Beneath the surface, however, boils a cauldron of hate.  [Full Story]

INTERVIEW: Weigel on the 2008 Election

Posted: Monday, July 14, 2008
EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel was recently interviewed on the 2008 U.S. election by the Italian newspaper, Avvenire. Excerpts from the interview appeared in the July 13 issue of Avvenire; the full text of the interview appears below.  [Full Story]

An Anthem Switch?

Posted: Wednesday, July 9, 2008
As America celebrates Independence Day, let's ponder a switch in national anthems, substituting "America the Beautiful" for the poem Francis Scott Key wrote during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor during the War of 1812.   [Full Story]

The Name Game

Posted: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Twenty-four years in Washington having immunized me against surprise when Uncle Sam does something stupid. I didn't feel personally rebuked by this admonition to verbal chastity, despite having used the naughty J-word in Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism (then perched on the Foreign Affairs and Catholic Booksellers Association bestseller lists). My obstinacy was subsequently reinforced by a Muslim interlocutor.  [Full Story]

The Presumptions of a Pastoral Letter

Posted: Monday, June 30, 2008
The farther the 1980s recede into the historical rear-view mirror, the less The Challenge of Peace looks like an insightful analysis of the political dynamics of that dramatic decade. It is now clear that disarmament -- not the arms control promoted by the bishops' letter, but real disarmament --  only took place after a human rights revolution had brought down the communist regimes of central and eastern Europe.  [Full Story]

Remembering the Greatest

Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I've had the "sports disease" since 1957, which is as far as my sports memory takes me. By the end of 1958, though, I was completely hooked, the bait having been merely the greatest pro football game ever, the 1958 sudden-death NFL championship in which John Unitas, Raymond Berry and the Baltimore Colts took down the New York Giants of Frank Gifford and Sam Huff.  [Full Story]

Latin Days Are Here Again?

Posted: Friday, June 20, 2008
Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes and no. But neither the "yes" nor the "no" quite fits the conventional speculations in several recent media reports following off-the-cuff remarks to a small Catholic association in Great Britain by a Vatican official.  [Full Story]

The Nobility of Cardinal Dulles

Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Avery Dulles has been a theologian of the tradition, explicating ancient truths, stretching them a bit, exploring their implications, but never seeking cheap originality or sound-bite fame. Adherence to the truth of Catholic faith has been the organizing principle of his extensive theological work -- more than 20 books, and over 700 articles.  [Full Story]