by George Weigel KRAKOW, Poland – The village of Pasierbiec is in the south of Poland, about 30 miles from the old royal capital of Krakow. Its church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation, is full of votum gifts testifying to favors received through the intercession of the basilica’s namesake. (The church itself reminds […]
by Father John P. Cush “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” by Reza Aslan. Random House (New York, 2013). 333 pp., $27. Some speak of a contemporary third quest for the historical Jesus. For a definition of the historical Jesus, a contemporary scholar, John P. Meier, states: “the Jesus whom we can […]
by George Weigel AS I REMEMBER it, the Civil War centenary, which coincided with my middle school years, got far more public attention than the war’s sesquicentennial has received. There were a flurry of Gettysburg sesquicentennial columns and book reviews in July; the “Civil War Daily Gazette” (www.civilwardailygazette.com) provides a reminder, in detail and every 24 hours, […]
by George Weigel IN THE WAKE of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s homicide convictions this past May, several state legislatures began crafting laws that would protect unborn life at earlier stages of gestation while shutting down horror houses like Gosnell’s Philadelphia “clinic.” Whether these laws will stand constitutional scrutiny remains to be seen; what is worth noting now […]
by George Weigel IN HIS JUNE 13 testimony before the National Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform, Dr. Thomas Farr of Georgetown’s Berkley Center described the failures of U.S. international religious freedom policy over the past decade and a half and suggested some of the structural reasons for that failure: lack of […]
by Mary Ann Todzia While I was in the Ministry Preparation Process (third year) of the Pastoral Institute’s Lay Ministry Program, it was decided that I should concentrate on the ministry of evangelization. My project was to begin a program called Matthew’s Mission in my parish, Transfiguration and St. Stanislaus Kostka in Maspeth. With the […]
by Father Arlen Harris, O.F.M. Cap. The smile. It is warm, and it is gentle. And it continues to inspire this still “green” priest even in the present day. I first met Msgr. Paul Jervis, pastor of St. Martin de Porres parish in Bedford-Stuyvesant, five years ago at Our Lady of Victory Church. I was […]
by George Weigel LET ME BEGIN by paying Father Andrew Greeley, who died this past May 29, a compliment he’d never have paid me, or indeed anyone of my “location” in the Church: Catholicism was duller after Greeley was felled by an accident in 2008, and the Church feels emptier since his death. In the […]
A good understanding of the principle of human dignity can be found in examples from new technology. Or from the straight talk of Pope Francis. Both can be equally effective. “We have begun this culture of disposal where human beings themselves are nowadays considered as consumer goods, which can be used and thrown away,” the […]
by George Weigel The “Edict of Milan,” whose milleseptuacentennial (so to speak) is being marked this year, wasn’t an edict and wasn’t issued at Milan. Still, its enormous impact on the history of the Church and the West is well worth pondering on this 1,700th anniversary. In his magisterial study, The First Thousand Years, Robert […]
