Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

John Paul II on the American Experiment

In receiving the credentials of the Honorable Lindy Boggs as Ambassador to the Holy See on December 16, 1997, Pope John Paul II offered some pointed comments on the “credibility” of the United States and its world leadership. Herewith the complete text of a statement that bears close reading. . . . . Continue Reading »

Statecraft and Stagecraft

American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America’s Most Powerful Church by Charles R. Morris. Times Books, 511 pages, $27.50. Social historian and commentator Charles Morris’ new study of the development and current situation of the Catholic Church in America is an important, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Denomination Called Catholic

By now, nearly everyone has heard the statistics. From the end of Vatican II in 1965 to the present, the American Catholic Church has experienced dramatic drops in attendance at Sunday Mass, per capita contributions, the number of Catholic elementary and secondary schools, the population of priests . . . . Continue Reading »

Teach Me: A Catholic Cri de Coeur

No, the situation could hardly be more serious, unless Diocletian reclined still in his palace, and martyrs still faced night arrest and torture in the amphitheaters. The situation could hardly be more dire, unless the old Roman law still survived that stated flatly, frighteningly, “It is unlawful . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholicism in America

Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy by george weigel paulist press, 218 pages, $11.95 Forty years ago, Evelyn Waugh wrote a piece for Life magazine entitled “The American Epoch in the Catholic Church.” In a manner only mildly condescending and with controlled admiration . . . . Continue Reading »

Filter Tag Articles