The times in which a new form is born are extremely rare in the history of mankind. Great forms are characterized by their ability to outlive the age in which they emerge and to pursue their path through all history’s hiatuses and upheavals. The Greek column with its Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian . . . . Continue Reading »
The pope’s deepest problems are the result of self-inflicted wounds. Continue Reading »
The pope’s historical formulations—about Luther and Jesuit missions—makes this historian wince. Continue Reading »
No earthly power creates the Church and no earthly power owns the Church. The Church was created by the Lord Jesus, and it is his, not ours. Continue Reading »
Science fiction’s ambition to evoke the immensely long and strange history of the future gives these three works peculiar power to meditate on the promise that the Church will survive. Continue Reading »
An important new book has appeared that carefully evaluates Francis’s pontificate, and provides something the pope—for all his good deeds—often hasn’t: context and clarity. Continue Reading »
The heart of the matter is that, according to the teaching of the Church, there are norms that are valid without exception and not subject to individual discernment. The German bishops contradict this. Continue Reading »
In the summer of 1941, at the height of Germany's success in the war, Bishop von Galen decided to take a public stand against the Nazis, even if he had to do it on his own. Continue Reading »
There’s no better way to enter into the pilgrim character of the season that to participate in the 7 a.m. stational Mass led by the priest and students of the North American College. Continue Reading »
Reckoning with a pope whose own remarks seem somewhat erratic is one thing. But how are we to reckon with a situation in which the administration of the sacraments, and the theology behind their administration, is succumbing, with his blessing, to . . . . Continue Reading »
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