R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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Greek Revival

A friend sent me a recent piece in the New York Times about super-athlete Kilian Jornet Burgada. He leaps tall buildings in a single bound, etc. Super-extreme sport, the athletic hero, the perfected body . . . are we seeing signs that our post-Christian culture is reverting to classical ideals? . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Mar 2013

Pope Francis and Argentine Politics

I continue to be fascinated by the Argentine reactions to the election of Cardinal Bergoglio. Jorge Fernández Díaz titled his recent column ” El papa peronista .” Juan Domingo Perón is the defining personality in modern Argentine history. He was a protean figure, hard to . . . . Continue Reading »

18 Mar 2013

New Pope’s Conservative Populism

News flash: The revolutionary left does not like the new Pope. An interview with Brazilian sociologist and Marxist philosopher Michael Lowy offers a particularly pure example of the reasoning behind the Latin American Left’s efforts to discredit the new pope . His reasoning is . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Mar 2013

Pope Francis and the Left

The Argentine left doesn’t like the new pope. Horacio Verbitsky, a leftist journalist and author in Argentina, responded to the election of Pope Francis with a bitter column in Página/12 . He describes former Cardinal Bergoglio as “a conservative populist,” who, like Pius XII . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Mar 2013

Francis: A Revolutionary Already Breaking the Rules

Like most of us I’m scrambling to learn more. Here’s what I do know: Francis is a conservative Jesuit, but in some ways a revolutionary, as almost all modern Jesuits are. He’s like Benedict in the sense of not having any restorationist impulses. He recognizes that the idea of . . . . Continue Reading »

13 Mar 2013

Catholic Attitudes

I want to follow up on Matthew Schmitz’s observations about the New York Times/CBS News poll of Catholics. Two cohorts jump out. The first is made up of those who attend Mass weekly and think their faith is very important in their lives. They consistently express greater support for the . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Mar 2013

Staying Home from the Conclave

After recent public accusations of sexual misconduct with seminarians, Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland not only resigned as archbishop but also announced that he would not attend the conclave to elect the next pope. I wish some of the other Cardinals would give up the privileges of their . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Mar 2013

Aesthetic of Collapse

After I posted about the implications of Scottish Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation amidst allegations of sexual misconduct, I’ve found myself swept up into the surging currents of Rod Dreher’s blog . Given that Rod says a great deal, there’s of course a great deal that . . . . Continue Reading »

26 Feb 2013

Rod Dreher on the Sex Scandals

In a long post , Rod Dreher takes the measure of the recent resignation of Cardinal O’Brien of Scotland in the wake of charges of untoward advances on seminarians and young priests some thirty years ago. I have no particular desire to defend the honor, innocence, or reputation of Cardinal . . . . Continue Reading »

25 Feb 2013

Values Voters for Obama

There is a growing political divide between the irreligious and religious. A recent Pew study  shows that those who have no religious affiliation (Nones) are the single most ideologically committed cohort of white Americans, rivaled only by Evangelical Protestants. They overwhelmingly support . . . . Continue Reading »

25 Feb 2013