Pope Francis is sometimes accused of being a “Marxist.” In particular, the following paragraphs from Fratelli Tutti drew some criticism (emphasis added): 119. In the first Christian centuries, a number of thinkers developed a universal vision in their reflections on...
The book entitled The Fool and the Heretic is a dialogue between authors Todd Charles Wood and Darrel R. Falk, the “Fool” and the “Heretic,” respectively. Their discussion is moderated by Rob Barrett from the Colossian Forum, an organization that...
Can traditions be harmful to the spiritual life? If so, what makes them harmful? Even more importantly, how could a tradition become harmful if it was once beneficial? As Catholics, we are called to hold fast to a certain tradition....
In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis discusses how “spiritual worldliness” can creep into the Church. He writes: This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply interrelated ways. One is the attraction of gnosticism, a purely subjective faith whose only interest is...
A particular theme stood out among the comments on my recent article. Some critics claimed that the Vatican II liturgy downplayed sacrificial symbolism in the liturgy in favor of meal symbolism, and so is inferior to the older forms of...
Confusion about the Gospel teaching on poverty is widespread in the modern Church. The call to voluntary poverty is uncomfortable, particularly to the inhabitants of the wealthiest civilization in history. Human nature being what it is, this inconvenient teaching has...
The National Catholic Register recently published a blog post by Kevin Di Camillo, which argued that the “Traditional Latin Mass” shouldn’t be “silenced,” since a diversity of liturgical expressions doesn’t threaten Church unity. He writes: My liberal Catholic friends usually...
Pope Francis recently issued Traditionis Custodes, which restricts, but does not prohibit, the celebration of older forms of the Roman Rite. In his accompanying letter, Pope Francis explains that he is taking this action because the traditionalist movement has become...
The Benedictine Monastery and the Franciscan Field Hospital Catholics aren’t Countercultural As Catholics, we’re called to resist the “culture of death” and the “throw-away culture.” Does this mean we are countercultural? Are we being called to oppose a culture, or...
Two Intertwined Narratives Rod Dreher begins his book The Benedict Option by observing that the “culture war” is over and that the conservatives have lost it. If the war is indeed over, many of the warriors don’t seem to have...
On May 3, Crisis Magazine published an article by Eric Sammons titled “Moving Beyond Vatican II.” In it, Sammons argues that it is time to stop arguing for or against the second Vatican Council. He suggests that it is time...
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