Matthew Schmitz

Approval of the controversial proposal that the Church of England ordain women bishops required two-thirds voting in support in three different bodies—-the Houses of Bishops, Priests, and Laity. Tellingly, it was in the last, most popular, of the three that the measure ran aground, with  . . . . Continue Reading »

Richard John Neuhaus wrote in these pages that if he had the authority, “everyone would use the Revised Standard Version.” Over at  The American Conservative , Michael Brendan Dougherty fires off a volley against the venerable translation: The mainstream option for believing . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholic News Service reports : Citing Bourgeois’ participation in the invalid ordination in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 9, 2008, the Maryknoll statement said, “With patience, the Holy See and the Maryknoll Society have encouraged his reconciliation with the Catholic Church.” . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael Hannon offers a helpful interjection into the roiling same-sex marriage debate: Think back to the embarrassing and obnoxious response your teacher used to give when a student would ask, “Can I go to the bathroom?” “I don’t know,” she would say, “Can you?” . . . . Continue Reading »

A very insightful column this weeekend from Ross Douthat : Consider the secular vote, which has been growing swiftly and tilts heavily toward Democrats. The liberal image of a non-churchgoing American is probably the “spiritual but not religious” seeker, or the bright young atheist . . . . Continue Reading »

If you enjoy the writing of the delightful Dr. Boli , you may want to buy his new book  for yourself or a loved one. The story follows a man who sets out to live a life of wickedness and, it seems, has some trouble. Call it pince-nez pulp: The Crimes of Galahad  is a new novel destined to . . . . Continue Reading »

I hope readers have already taken note of George Weigel’s very striking suggestion in these pages yesterday that the Catholic Church should preemptively withdraw from involvement in civil marriage : It seems important to accelerate a serious debate within American Catholicism on whether the . . . . Continue Reading »

Wesley Hill takes up the theology of Rowan Williams in  Books and Culture : Lent is the moment in the church’s calendar in which Williams’ theology seems most at home. During the forty days leading up to Easter, we practice abstinence, we repent and discipline our desires, placing . . . . Continue Reading »

A friend sends this video with the comment, “‘stylish baptism’ is a combination of words that causes civilizations to crumble.” Some of the advice (“this is not the time to be boobalicious”) is quite sound, though. Update: A commenter below writes, “Of . . . . Continue Reading »

Gen. David Petraeus has resigned his post as Director of the CIA. He explains his reasons in a letter : Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed . . . . Continue Reading »