There have been a lot of changes for me this past year. Games Magazine, where I was Editor-at-Large for about 17 years, was folded into a sister publication, reducing my responsibility to only two pages a month. I left Maximum PC magazine after being one of its original writers and longest-running columnist, a tenure of almost two decades. I went through a period of illness and finally returned to a more regular work schedule with the World Meeting of Families... Read more
Some clarifications. There were some who took exception to my calling the pope “wrong” yesterday. I want to be clear: I believe it was a mistake to open up a rejected proposal for debate and bring discredited theologians and leaders back into prominence. Most troubling is his personal support of Cardinal Danneels, which is inexcusable and reflects very poorly on his judgement. The record is clear, and there is no place for men who sheltered and protected abusers, and further damaged their victims,... Read more
The current synod is certainly not the first synod to consider the issue of communion for the divorced and remarried. In October 2005 the synod kicked around these issues, and in February 2007 Pope Benedict XVI published the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis (the Sacrament of Charity). Note well the long passage of time between synod and publication. Benedict’s very sound teaching should have put this matter to rest, but Pope Francis dragged Cardinal Kasper back into the limelight to peddle... Read more
My history column for the Register this week is on Temple Trutherism. It’s like 9/11 Trutherism, only with slightly more anti-semitism! Reporter Rick Gladstone shows us some of those high-quality skills you only get from journalism school by utterly ignoring the experts he interviewed and concocting a story about scholarly doubt as to whether the Temples were on the Temple Mount. The New York Times found itself at the center of a firestorm last week after publishing an article that suggested there’s... Read more
At the Register this week, I write about an idea floated by the German episcopate to go their own way on matters of “pastoral care” and damn what the Universal Church has to say. Trent’s already rendered the verdict on this approach, and pretending “pastoral care” isn’t the same as “discipline” doesn’t make it any less of a schismatic act. Here’s the beginning: Gallicanism, and its German sibling Febronianism, was the French notion that regional and state authority and custom have equal... Read more
My coverage of the papal visit was a test bed for mobile computing and reporting. I did all of my writing on an iPad 2 with a Zagg keyboard. It was light, extremely portable, fit in a confined space, and did every single thing I needed. When we were crammed into the chapel of the Basilica covering the papal mass, everyone was tripping over each other’s bulky laptops. (Some media are probably compelled to run some sort of enterprise software for submitting copy, but... Read more
No? Well tough, you’re getting it anyway. This piece (which I talk about here) marks the first of a weekly series, appearing Mondays in the National Catholic Register. I plan to use the space to explore odd corners of Church history, sometimes just for fun, sometimes in order to shed a bit of light on a present issue or concern. From time to time, I’ll check in with updates about new archaeological discoveries relevant to the Ancient Near East and Christendom. It’s... Read more
It is to hear some people tell it. I think it was this video that got me thinking about Pius VI, but all the daft ranting of the past year certainly played a part in my realization that people have no context for what they’re experiencing. I’ve written a bit about Pius, his times, and the way they still impact our own for the National Catholic Register. Part of this is by way of urging you to ignore anyone saying this is... Read more
This week’s radio show with Dark Lord Mark Shea and me was really well received, even though I talked about those eviiiiil tarot cards. Mark’s been wanting to do this show for a year, and he figured it was a good fit for October. So he let me ramble on for an our We spend the first 15 minutes talking about the Synod and slapping the hysterics and doomsayers across the face, shouting “SNAP OUT OF IT”! Listen below or at... Read more
Great Moments in Reformation History! Medieval gossips claimed that Luther’s mother was seduced by a demon disguised as a jewelry merchant, and that the demon then counseled Martin throughout his wayward journey into heresy. After a visit to Rome, so the stories go, he felt shabbily treated and asked his father how he could get his revenge. “Write a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer,” was the demon’s suggestion. Another legend tells of where Luther got his new ideas. One night a... Read more
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