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By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Jul 20, 2021 | In Quick Hits Horrified by today’s blockbuster story from Pillar, the ubiquitous Father James Martin, SJ, worries that if Catholic journalists are going to investigate cell-phone usage, we should all be worried. Why? If you could obtain my cell-phone records, you’d find them mighty boring. Why would someone assume that there’s damaging information in anyone’s private records? But that’s just one quick thought, on a day when I set out to catch up with some of the more interesting commentary from other outlets: These are undeniably contentious times in the Catholic Church. Some people—including critics of the Catholic Culture enterprise—argue that loyal Catholics should not focus on the difficulties within the Church. “We...

Many have already written well of the concerns and heartache elicited by the Pope’s motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, which sets strict norms limiting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. I have celebrated in this “extraordinary form” (as well as the ordinary form) for more than 32 years and written often of it. Hence, I seek to add my voice.  I must say that I am grieved and stunned by this document and the letter to the bishops that accompanied it. I think not so much of my own potential loss but of the many Catholics I have served who love the extraordinary form. For so long and in so many places they have often been treated harshly and have been marginalized for their love for the form of the liturgy that most of the saints knew.  Pope Benedict and Pope St. John P...

Raise your hand if you are old enough to remember the Vietnam era. That may sound like a strange question to ask after a weekend of reading the tsunami of online reactions to the decision by Pope Francis to all but crush the 2007 Summorum Pontificum apostolic letter by the now retired Pope Benedict XVI, the document defending the use of the old Latin Mass, now called the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Now the fighting — another sign of real divisions between Catholic bishops almost everywhere — will almost certainly be turned up to 11. As Father Raymond J. de Souza of the National Catholic Register put it: “Where there is incense there is fire.” This brings me back to Vietnam. Here’s the phrase that jumped into my mind, about an hour or two into watching the firestorm on Catholic Tw...

They may very well get to thank you some day — at the Pearly Gates. It’s almost cliché. Those of the “Greatest Generation” absolutely, positively do not want to be a “burden” on their children. This generation of people who gave so much for so many couldn’t (and can’t) imagine putting their children in a position of having to sacrifice for them. On the surface, this would seem like yet another selfless action on their part. But is it? Could pride also be a factor here? It can be embarrassing to have to have your kids take very personal care of you. I get it. And don’t get me wrong: There is certainly a selfless quality associated with going out of one’s way to not put one’s children out. However, I propose that this seemingly thoughtful mindset has had some very dire, unintended consequenc...

Most of the episcopal statements I’ve seen so far have been…status quo. The official statement from the USCCB is here. It strikes me as a verbal sort of head desk gesture. As in “Well, that happened. Thnx.” Two other (out of many) of note. Christopher Altieri at CWR. The fact of the matter is that the law Pope Francis promulgated on Friday is cumbersome and unwieldy. It will require bishops to dedicate time and energy – sometimes enormous quantities of both – to a thankless project for which they didn’t really ask, and from which they cannot expect any measure of good will. Most laity in most parishes don’t care either way, while the faithful who are devoted to the older forms of worship are highly motivated. Now, they have their dander piqued. The bishops of the world know it, and as they...