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There are tons of theories surrounding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and, more broadly, the fictional world of Middle-Earth in which the books take place. One of these theories is that Middle-Earth is actually not a fictional world at all, but our own Earth in prehistoric times, before — as historian Dan Carlin recently put it in his podcast Hardcore History — “the so-called Age of Man began.” This theory has been around for a while, but it’s unclear where it originated from. It’s possible this theory can be traced back to Tolkien himself, who once said he created Middle-Earth to provide England with a mythology that could compare to those of the Greeks or the Icelanders. The theory gained traction after a public lecture at the University of Oxford in 2022, titled “On Hobbits and ...

Right, left, and center, why is no cardinal good enough to be papabile anymore? Skip to content Past a certain point in a pontificate, handicapping the frontrunners to succeed the pope becomes an inevitable part of the daily chatter among curial staffers and Vatican journalists. But the current field of contenders is surprisingly thin, and, given the increasingly critical coverage any potential papabile seems to attract, there may be a real risk for any cardinal seen to be flying too high. While that may be put down partly to a desire in some quarters to ensure a reliable and effective heir to the Francis pontificate, the result may well be a wide open vote to succeed him. Share — Once a pope passes a certain age or has a major health event, listicles of the top three, or five, or ten cont...

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor Amazon Prime Delivery must stop Christians from keeping the Third Commandment Both the extent and the limitations of the Supreme Court’s power are visible in a pending case raising the question of how far employers must go to accommodate employees’ religion. Underlying this dispute — yet obviously unreachable by the Supreme Court — is the larger reality of the sabbath’s de facto secularization in today’s America. The case now before the court — Groff v. DeJoy it’s called — concerns a mail carrier who lost his job for refusing to deliver mail on Sunday because his Christian faith forbids him to work on the sabbath. The justices heard oral arguments last month and will announce their decision before the court’s current term ends in late June or early July. ...

Taking ‘stock,’ a Marshall matter, and that Tyler tweet Skip to content Hey everybody, Today is the feast of St. Simon Stock, the 13th-century Carmelite who, by tradition, received from the Blessed Virgin the brown scapular which forms part of the Carmelite habit, and which — in smaller form — is worn daily by non-Carmelite Catholics around the world (including me!). The scapular represents the filial piety of Catholics who have entrusted themselves to the protection of Our Lady — it is a sign of receiving Mary as a mother, and asking for her intercessory prayers. It became a popular devotion beyond the Carmelites in the 16th and 17th centuries, and remains one today — and it probably helped that Pope John Paul was devoted to the scapular sacramental, reportedly asking in 1981,...

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, told CNA Monday that the archdiocese expressed its concerns about the display to the parish and only became aware of the artwork through media reports. Fox News Digital reported on May 10 that the exhibit had been removed from the 19th-century mother church of the Paulist Fathers, but Paul Snatchko, a spokesman for the Paulist Fathers, told CNA Monday that the display is still up at the church.  Snatchko said that the Paulist Fathers took the concerns of the archdiocese “very seriously” and, in response, removed the sign with the name and description of the display on May 9.  When asked if the Paulist Fathers believe it is acceptable to say that God is transgender, Snatchko answered “no.” A new name and description are...