Author: S&P
Faith, reason, and Catholic political engagement…
United States Capitol from top of the Washington Monument. (Image: Andy Feliciotti | Unsplash.com) Before I finish this article, it will be obvious how my family and I will vote on November 3, and why. But I’ll also speak of a man whose Catholic faith and public service I greatly admire. And he’ll very likely vote in the opposite direction, for a different set of reasons. There’s a lesson in that....
Notre Dame’s Prof. Daniel Philpott on political rancor: ‘I am greatly anxious for our country…’…
[Editor’s Note: Daniel Philpott is Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his Ph.D. in 1996 from Harvard University and specializes in religion and global politics, focusing on religious freedom, reconciliation, the political behavior of religious actors, and Christian political theology. His books include Revolutions in Sovereignty (Princeton, 2001), God’s Centu...
Austria’s Catholic bishops: pray for victims of Vienna terror attack…
CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2020 / 05:00 am MT (CNA).- Austria’s Catholic bishops have appealed for prayers for the victims of Monday night’s terror attack in Vienna. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said Nov. 2 that he was “deeply saddened” after gunmen opened fire at six different locations in the Austrian capital, killing at least four people and injuring 17 others. “Whatever the background to th...
A Thread of Unity
My mother was a seamstress. It was a joy in her life, something that made her proud but also made her happy. That she enjoyed creating beautiful creations was something that always resonated with me. It’s like my mom always had this mentality – creating beauty where few could see it and then hearing the praise because of her creations; she was a visionary – she saw it all a...
Political tact doesn’t stop the Pope from (indirectly) tweaking Trump…
ROME – “A foolish consistency,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once famously wrote, “is the hobgoblin of little minds.” People and institutions of all sorts channel their inner Emerson all the time, invoking iron-clad principles when they’re convenient but finding loopholes when they’re not. The Vatican is no exception, and the past weekend brought two examples when it comes to getting involved in civil poli...
Give the devil enough rope and he’ll hang himself. Give him enough power and he’ll hang us first…..
The end of the world is nigh. It is this ultimate reality which should animate and motivate us. The devil might be able to hang us before he hangs himself, but he can’t deprive us of the resurrection which will separate us from his clutches forever. Give the devil enough rope and he’ll hang himself. Give him enough power and he’ll hang us first. These might not seem very reassuring words as many o...
Purgatory is based on a promise Jesus made to us…
I have blogged before on Purgatory. Here is a link to one of those blogs: Purgatory – Biblical and Reasonable. I have also written more extensively on its biblical roots here: PDF Document on Purgatory. On this Feast of All Souls, I want to reflect on Purgatory as the necessary result of a promise. Many people think of Purgatory primarily in terms of punishment, but it is also important to conside...
Remembering a great man and friend who died too soon: Andrew Thomas Walther, R.I.P…
Andrew Walther, one of my dearest friends in the world, died on Sunday. He was a hero and he was a saint. He loved greatly, like one of his patrons, Blessed Michael McGivney, did. Andrew Walther was a vice president at the Knights of Columbus and most recently became president for news at EWTN. He was so good. I talked to him often and one can never know another’s heart, but I believe his sins wer...
Andrew Walther, 45, head of EWTN News, remembered for devotion to the Church after death on All Saints’ Day…
Walther, 45, a lifelong Catholic, loving husband and father died on Nov. 1 in New Haven after a short battle with leukemia. Andrew Thomas Walther, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, died Sunday evening on All Saints Day in New Haven, Connecticut. Remembered foremost as a loving husband and father, in his life’s work he was dedicated to serving the Catholic Church and defending per...
Weariness and Renewal
Do you not know? Have you not heard? It was 1995, I was sixteen years old, and I thought I did know and I had heard. I’d grown up in the church: sang the songs, memorized the verses, assembled the Vacation Bible School crafts. So when I opened the devotional booklet during the “quiet time” set aside for Scripture reflection on the last morning of the high school youth group retreat, I didn’t expec...
Taking a broader view of Vatican “anti-corruption” reforms…
ROME – When he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was infamous for rarely giving interviews. An Argentine reporter told me in 2013 that he once went out to a site where Bergoglio was saying Mass to cover the event, and then spotted him heading for the subway afterwards. From the window of his car, the reporter told Bergoglio he was heading back towards the center of...
Elon Musk asks this confusing riddle during job interviews. Can you answer it?
Elon Musk reportedly asks job candidates to solve a tricky riddle during interviews at SpaceX. Most people eventually solve the riddle. Can you? Once you’re finished, try your hand at our other challenging brain-teasers for adults. You never know what to expect from Elon Musk, whether he’s saying settlers will die on Mars, claiming the sun will someday power all of civilization, or nam...
