by George Weigel Pete Seeger died on Jan. 27, rich in years – 94, to be exact – and in honors: a lifetime-achievement Grammy, the National Medal for the Arts. His death rated a segment on the PBS News Hour, during which the inconvenient fact that Seeger had been a member of the U.S. Communist Party […]
by George Weigel Papal approbation being no bad thing, I was delighted to learn that Pope Francis, in a homily a few weeks ago, had suggested that his congregants learn the date of their baptisms and celebrate it – which is precisely what I have been proposing to audiences around the country this past year […]
by George Weigel Twenty-five years ago, on Jan. 27, 1989, a joint statement from the communist government of Poland, the Solidarity trade union and the Catholic Church announced a national “Roundtable” to discuss the country’s future, including major structural issues of political and economic reform. The Roundtable began the following month; basic agreements were reached […]
by Msgr. Joseph Calise TODAY’S SCRIPTURES circle around the theme of the light breaking into the darkness of the human experience. In the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we hear that a “people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” and learn of the joy that accompanied this revelation. […]
by George Weigel TWO) RECENT BOOKS suggest that, amidst challenges and problems, the pace of authentic Catholic renewal is accelerating in the U.S. “Renewal: How a New Generation of Faithful Priests and Bishops Is Revitalizing the Catholic Church” (Encounter Books) by Anne Hendershott and Christopher White was nicely timed to coincide with Pope Francis’ recently […]
by Karen Osborne These days, you might ask your friends to “chill,” or post a “selfie” for Facebook. In the 1970s, you would have asked your friend “can you dig it?” or to “book it” from a boring party. Cool things in the 1920s were the “cat’s pajamas,” and people got the “heebie-jeebies” at Halloween. […]
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk In her still-widely-read 1971 article, “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Jarvis Thomson sets up a thought experiment known as “The Famous Violinist Problem” to argue that abortion ought to be morally justified when a pregnancy arises out of sexual assault: “You wake up in the morning and find yourself back to […]
by Maureen Pratt Feeling sluggish? Dazed? Foggy? As if you’d like to hibernate for the rest of the winter? The period after the holidays can leave us feeling anything but energetic. A bit of that is the natural letdown from a festive and active season of celebrations, reunions and an outpouring of good cheer. If […]
by George Weigel My fascination with Ukraine began in 1984, during a sabbatical year at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. One of the first friends I made among my fellow Fellows was Dr. Bohdan Bociurkiw, a Ukrainian-Canadian professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. We first connected through a mutual interest in religious freedom […]
by George Weigel When Francis Eugene George first sought admission to the Chicago seminary in the 1950s, Chicago Catholicism imagined itself the future of the Catholic Church in the western world – and not without reason. A lot of the ferment in Catholic intellectual, liturgical and pastoral life that would eventually produce the Second Vatican […]
