R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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The Conspiracy of Silence on Islamic Riots

Am I the only one who reads stories from Europe and scratch my head over the conspiracy of silence? Consider this little news item about riots in the French city of Genoble . It seems the BBC, Reuters, and others can’t bring themselves to mention that the fleeing suspect shot by the police was . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Jul 2010

Hammering on Rome

Wow. The New York Times can’t stop itself. In an editorial on Saturday , the Grey Lady deemed last weeks changes to the motu proprio concerning crimes against the holy sacraments worse than inadequate. “Among all the defensive posturing and inept statements,” write the editors, there . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Jul 2010

Obama Keeps Promise on Prohibiting Federal Funding of Abortion

Kudos to the Obama administration. After the Stupak-Pitts amendment that specifically prohibited federal funding of abortion in the new programs established by the big healthcare reform bill was stripped out, many predicted that tax payers would end of financing the evil of abortion. The suspsicion . . . . Continue Reading »

16 Jul 2010

Never Change — Until We Change

As Meghan noted earlier this week, it seems that the YMCA will be dropping the MCA from their name. Men? That became politically incorrect ages ago. Christian? Hardly a factor in their programming for decades. Association? No problem there, but YA doesn’t make any sense. I’m fine with . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Jul 2010

New Norms From Rome

The Vatican has put forward new norms for handling clerical sexual abuse. The spin in the AP story in the New York Times offers occasion for reflection. Thought #1: The story says, “The bulk of the new document merely codified the ad hoc norms for dealing canonically with pedophile . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Jul 2010

Another Problem for the Church?

Italians newspapers are reporting intensified investigative interest in Cardinal Sepe of Naples. (For English language reporting, see a recent article in the Irish Times .) Cardinal Sepe may, perhaps, be a true son of southern Italy, using his position to distribute goodies funded by the massive . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jul 2010

Burqa Ban

As predicted, the French lower house passed a largely symbolic measure that bans full face coverings in public . In a posting last week , I pointed out that whatever one thinks of the French ban, it fits into a more than one-century-long tradition of enforcing (or at least trying to enforce) a . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jul 2010

Diversity, Discrimination, and the Supreme Court

It’s summer, and I’ve let my reading go a little. Only today did I catch up with a perceptive discussion of the recent Supreme Court decision, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, posted by Robert K. Visher on The Public Discourse . The majority in Martinez upheld the decision of the . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jul 2010

The Belgian Scandal and the Church’s Future

Today’s New York Times breaks more news about the investigations of the Belgian church. It’s an ugly story, a very ugly story. A bishop, his 10-year-old nephew, sexual molestation—-and the all too familiar story of ecclesiastical retreat from reality as the Belgian hierarchy . . . . Continue Reading »

13 Jul 2010

Hitler Goes Motown

Am I the only one who finds this youtube video kinda creepy? Yes, Charlie Chaplin lampooned Hitler decades ago in The Great Dictator (1940). But the critical edge was plain to see. This video, which has Der Fuehrer singing the theme song to The Jeffersons , is more in the spirit of Mel Brooks, who . . . . Continue Reading »

13 Jul 2010