On May 31 1906, King Alfonso XIII married Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (“Ena”) in the Royal Monastery of San Geronimo in Madrid. Ena, a granddaugher of Queen Victoria and niece of King Edward VII, had scandalized some of her family by becoming a Catholic before the marriage. . . . . Continue Reading »
I’ve been doing some tweeting about it here . I called the Saturday night Hyde Park prayer vigil “the ultimate peace rally.” The pope and the tea party—these are not unrelated things. They shouldn’t be, anyway. My thoughts, inspired by the pope’s first homily from this . . . . Continue Reading »
When Christine O’Donnell defeated Mike Castle in the recent GOP primary in Delaware, it sparked an internal fight between Tea Party populists and the establishment elites. I’m not elite enough to be part of the Ruling Class and I have an aversion to populism so I really have no dog in . . . . Continue Reading »
Can you imagine what kind of world we’d live in if every Catholic started his day with this prayer, courtesy of Cardinal Newman? We might just radiate Christ! Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole . . . . Continue Reading »
Leonie Caldecott, an English Catholic friend of mine, is singing tomorrow at Cardinal Newman’s beatification Mass. We e-mailed tonight about her thoughts the night before in anticipation. At first, in the spirit of truth, she was thoroughly human and admitted: “I am worrying I won’t . . . . Continue Reading »
Pope Benedict’s visit with the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury yesterday, a warm and positive gesture , was an example of how much the two communions they lead have in common—and yet how far they remain apart. Both stressed areas of agreement and mutual appreciation; both . . . . Continue Reading »
I’m not sure images get much more powerful than the image Saturday from London: Pope Benedict, in Hyde Park, on his knees in adoration of our Lord and Savior in the Blessed Sacrament. There are the controversial topics, the security threats, the celebrities, the history, the politics, but the . . . . Continue Reading »
Leighton Ford:Many years ago my late friend J. Christy Wilson was pastor of the first ever Christian church in Kabul, Afghanistan. Through the good offices of President Eisenhower permission was granted to build the church, attended by Christian expatriates. The time came when the Afghan authorities . . . . Continue Reading »
The UK is in the grips of an assisted suicide propaganda blitz, promoted, abetted, and encouraged by its often tabloid media. It was in this context that last February, a famous UK activist stepped forward with a shocking claim that he had assisted the suicide of his lover dying from AIDS by . . . . Continue Reading »
Mao’s experiment in industrializing China from 1958 to 1962 : “At least 45 million people were worked, starved or beaten to death in China over these four years.” . . . . Continue Reading »
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