"Nothing threatens America’s national security more than the perception that we are at war with Islam," I wrote four years ago in this magazine.
It was a follow-up ("Disgrace") to a longer piece about the role that perceived abuse of religious items and symbols played in
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One of the most memorable seminars I ever attended as a student was in a political philosophy course, in which one week covered debates about wealth stratification in ideal and real societies. We students were to submit short position papers about what we thought would be the ideal ratio of income
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The jaw-dropping swiftness with which the Senate responded to this week's flight delays, which were predicted as a result of sequestration, provides a perfect example of plutocracy in action. When sequestration began to affect the quality of life for frequent travelers -- an affluent segment of our
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Of T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, the second one, "East Coker," is perhaps the most explicitly Christian in both sense and referent. The fourth movement of "East Coker" is largely responsible for this assessment, though admittedly the fourth movements of the other quartets also
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Everyone has been reporting the great news that His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended today's installation Mass. What has not been correct is the part when we say it's the first time since 1054, the Great Schism. It's more likely, according to Byzantinist historian George
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The words kept recycling. Care for others ... care for creation ... care for others ... care for creation...
The homily of Pope Francis at his installation Mass this morning stunned me first into disbelief, then into self-reflection, then into joy and hope. Even if he had not already told us
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As I scroll through the statistics of the world's most "followed" Twitter users, I notice a trend. Those with the most dramatic differentials between how many "follow" them and how many they are "following" seems to track with how "prophetic" the person is
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I never thought I'd have the chance to say this, but we need to bring back the official Roman augurs. A dramatic bird omen has just occurred: the conclave seagull atop the chimney.
[caption id="attachment_24148" align="aligncenter" width="471"] Better informed than
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The lede for this morning's feature article in Politico:
Four months after taking an electoral pounding, Republicans can’t agree on what went wrong in 2012 — let alone on a path to recovery.
Each week brings a new diagnosis of the party’s woes. Karl Rove says it’s candidate quality.
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If I am hearing this correctly, the last words of Benedict's papacy were,
"Thank you, and good night!"
And a longer version of the historic events here
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The BBC has compiled answers to 10 of the top questions about the resignation of "His Holiness, Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus."
Shorter version:
His Holiness will be Fisherman's Ring-less and red shoe-less, but will continue to wear papal white (in simpler styles). He will have no
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Things have been a bit boring at the intersection of Catholicism and sports recently. After the Notre Dame debacle in the national championship game and subsequent revelation of Manti Te'o's having been duped online, the storylines seemed played out.
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When editors and contributors from Commonweal, America, and First Things agree about an issue in American politics, we should take note. On the questionable role of drone warfare in Catholic just war teaching, America's leading Catholic thinkers do seem to agree: the expanded use of drones in
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My mind has been racing all day about the papal resignation, and virtually every thought has been a question. As many seasoned observers have already noted, the Catholic Church is about to enter uncharted territory. Relatively few details of what comes next are known, and I'd like to open a
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In 1982 Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio, a Jesuit priest, hiked into the Syrian countryside to seek a solitary spot for a retreat. After injuring his leg in a serious fall, he stayed for a week in the abandoned monastery he had found on the side of a mountain. Years later, he would re-found it as Deir Mar
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Don't tell the kids, but it's almost time for Christmas!
That is, if you live in Armenia.
One of the lesser known facts about Christian history is how little concern there was -- for the first few hundred years -- about determining, much less celebrating, the date on which Jesus was born. The
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It's been difficult to follow all the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, not least because no one besides President Obama and Speaker Boehner really knows what's on the table. If you're just catching up with the various offers and counter-offers, you might find this chart by Dylan Matthews
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Last Wednesday, 12/12/12, at 12:00 pm was a popular time for wedding ceremonies around the country. But it was also the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand re-opening of the Yale University Art Gallery.
The New York Times offers a glowing review today, highlighting the museum's "just
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Here's a true story from last week: A woman was shopping and asked the clerk of a large store where she might find Advent candles. "Where you might find what?" The clerk was confused. "Advent candles. Three purple, one pink, for an Advent wreath." "I'm sorry, ma'am,"
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There are so many storylines and subplots to the 2012 election! One story deserving more attention, though, involves the motif of gambling, which ran throughout the 2012 election cycle.
It started during the primary contest when, as one of Romney's first gaffes, he challenged Rick Perry to a bet
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One of the earliest Christian controversies involved the proper date for Easter. It is usually called the "Quartodeciman" controversy, since it was about whether or not Easter ought to be celebrated on "14" of the month Nisan. In modern times, the split was not about the Jewish
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The Information Age has been overwhelming. The superfluity of the internet has necessitated a sharpening of the virtue of discernment. With limited free time each day, which websites will we visit?
For me -- and I'm guessing I'm not alone on this blog -- Rocco Palmo's Whispers in the Loggia is a
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Several readers criticized my op-ed for not saying more about what government can do that might reduce abortion rates. For example, Michael Sean Winters:
[V]oters can recognize the vast difference between Ryan’s position and President Obama’s, and those of us in the pro-life community should
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Yesterday I received hundreds of emails and some phone calls. I’m working through them, but it will take a few days, since the normal duties of classes and meetings still go on. I also see that several Catholic publications and websites have responded to my op-ed, and I’ll be sure to respond as
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Many news agencies have reported that Pope Benedict XVI, fresh off his visit to Arabic-speaking Christians in Lebanon, has added Arabic to the list of languages in which he offers papal blessings.
After the [weekly] address, which dealt with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the
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The wisdom of recent elections has taught us that celebrity endorsements of political candidates don't matter. A poll released yesterday confirmed this fact. Who cares what the lead singer of Creed or Eva Longoria -- or Clint Eastwood, for that matter -- thinks about the presidential election?
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Late last night, during a lavish banquet at an exclusive address in Chelsea, my Indiana Jones moment finally arrived. A mysterious man approached our dinner table and handed me a small box. "It's a gift. Just for you--" he said, and vanished.
"Who was that?" I asked my dinner
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Thanks to all for the great comments and questions in the multiple threads below. I’ll take up a few of those and some I received in response to my Washington Post piece. But before that, I want to respond to something else.
Esteemed New Testament scholar Francis Watson appears to have
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A couple days ago, I posted my initial thoughts on the new Coptic papyrus from an unknown early Christian text. I did some media interviews yesterday -- it turns out there aren't enough Coptic papyrologists to go around! -- and further honed my thoughts about what the new fragmentary papyrus does
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Nothing calls to mind my latent fantasies of an Indiana Jones lifestyle more than a new fragmentary Coptic papyrus about Jesus' "wife." I will confess that, as a reader/teacher of Coptic and a papyrologist, this was a pretty awesome afternoon. I was giddy like a child. Please, can someone
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As one who appreciates and often extols the power of analogical thinking, I've always been bothered by the furtive analogy made between teachers and factory workers. The concept of a teachers' "union" can lead us toward the analogy, but in fact, students are not products in any meaningful
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The popular late-night comedy show, The Colbert Report, is on vacation this week, but the folks at colbertnation.com have offered us five new compilations online: highlight reels of some of Stephen Colbert's satire and comedy on religion. Covered topics are Christianity / Catholicism, Judaism,
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For American Catholics, the summer of 2012 was partially thematized by the midsummer "Fortnight for Freedom." The U.S. bishops' document, "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty," offered a list of besieged liberties currently "under attack, both at home and abroad." The
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This question was brought to the front of my attention by a recent essay in The American Prospect. Monica Potts responds to Paul Ryan's philosophy of government:
The conservative approach to government stems from a basic tenet of free-market economics: that people always act rationally to
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I post for your amusement a typo that could only happen at the library of a Catholic institution. You can see that whoever authored this page of the library handbook was an especially pious speller:
Did you catch it? A number of questions come to mind:
Who is doing the interceding during
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The Trinity has never been easy to explain in plain speech. From the first gestures toward Trinitarian theology in the early Church, this Christian doctrine has been mysterious and figural. Already in the first century, the Trinity was expressed ritually in baptism -- indeed, I think that’s
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For sexual abusers and their protectors in Pennsylvania, it's been a summer of reckoning. The sentence for Msgr. Lynn was announced today. Last month Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of heinous crimes at Penn State. Others directly involved in the Penn State scandal have lost their
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The internet is filled with calls for outrage, and I hesitate to add one more. But the outrage over the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has been slowly simmering for months, and it's time for it to boil over. The cauldron hit a rolling boil when Newt Gingrich's campaign was funded
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Last week Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia, OP, was appointed to head Ecclesia Dei, which is the Pontifical Commission that seeks "reconciliation of those traditional communities not in union with the See of Peter." I don't personally know Abp. DiNoia, as do some of the other commentators
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We now have confirmation that on Sept. 14 three Catholic luminaries will share a stage at Fordham University. Cardinal Dolan and Stephen Colbert will present an evening focused on the relationship between faith and humor, and their dialogue will be moderated by James Martin, S.J. (award-winning
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Among the initial round-up of "react quotes" from academic theologians about the CDF's notification for Margaret Farley's Just Love, the response of Lisa Sowle Cahill (Boston College) was the most detailed and incisive. She has now expanded that into an op-ed at the Guardian. Concluding
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Not far from the pedestrian entrance to Fordham University’s campus in the Bronx is one of the boldest signs in all of New York. In a city not known for subtlety, even this one stands out as uncannily direct: Butt Boosting Jeans. In the accompanying photo I have spared you the window-shopping,
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NEWS
Today at Roman Noon the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a Notification about the book Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics (New York: Continuum, 2006), by Sr. Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M. (Read Luke Timothy Johnson's review of the book here.)
For those
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It's been getting pretty serious around here these days. No doubt the issues under consideration demand gravitas, but there's always room for levitas too. As Shakespeare knew so well, some comic relief can serve to sharpen perception of the serious matters. And so, like Rosencrantz, Guildenstern,
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Yes, he does. If you want him to, he'll keep insulting you the whole hour. Just go to the entertaining "Lutheran Insulter" site, and choose to be insulted as many times as you want. It's modeled on the popular "Shakespearean Insulter," also worth a visit.
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Last year I wrote a short piece for Commonweal that combined sociological data with personal observations in order to address the question of the lack of conservatives in academia. While some took issue with my observations, none of the dissenters bothered to address the data about what
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A couple weeks ago, Fr. Imbelli linked to a story about the AP style guide finally giving in to the way most people use the word "hopefully." It got me thinking about all the grammar I correct in the course of an academic year. Specifically, during this "grading season" --
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Thanks to Fr. Imbelli for drawing our attention to the Pope's homily from Easter Vigil (full text here). I am always enriched by Pope Benedict's utilization of early Christian texts and traditions in his explication of Catholic faith and practice. The Vigil is the perfect time to recall the
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Today's post by Fr. Jim Martin over at America's "In All Things" blog is destined to become a classic: "What's THAT supposed to mean?" All characters in his re-enactment are fictional composites (I think), but they sure ring true.
Prepare to LOL
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Since there has been so much discussion about the new liturgical translations here at Commonweal, I thought I'd let you all know about a panel discussion at Fordham University (Bronx) next Monday, April 16, 4 PM. The topic was occasioned by the new translation, but it promises to be a lively
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I just finished reading Michael Sean Winters's new biography of Jerry Falwell, God's Right Hand: How Jerry Falwell Made God a Republican and Baptized the American Right (HarperOne, 2012). Being familiar with his previous work (and the author himself), I must say that he did a fantastic job of
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Note: This pious kid is not ours.
As someone who explains Christianity for a living, I thought I would be well equipped to explain it to our own kid. To the endless series of questions -- Why do you call that man “Father?” Why can’t I have communion yet? What does “Alleluia” mean
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The Onassis Cultural Center is currently hosting a little gem of an exhibition, called Transition to Christianity: Art of Late Antiquity, 3rd - 7th Century AD.
Much of the art and artifacts are on loan from museums in Greece (Athens, Corinth, Thessaloniki, etc.), and some of the objects are on
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Really? It's simply stunning. How did this happen? Qur'ans and a large number of Islamic religious materials were burned (incompletely) and taken out with the trash at Bagram. They were discovered and, of course, salvaged by the local laborers dealing with the trash.
As I wrote in
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Several years ago I presented a lecture at the Pontifical Gregorian University concerning the presentation of Jews and Judaism in the Catholic Sunday Lectionary (subsequently published here). In the lecture and article I analyzed the relationships between the Old Testament / Gospel pairings, which
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It's shaping up to be a big year for the guild of Jewish New Testament scholars. The main event has been the publication of the Jewish Annotated New Testament, in which Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler brought together about 50 Jewish scholars to offer commentary and analysis on the New
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I missed this story last December, but perhaps many of you did too. The advocacy group Catholics United, who had in October taken the phrase "idolatry of the market" to heart and manufactured a "golden calf" to resemble the famous Wall St. bull, brought the golden bull to
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In a succinct, persuasive essay from 2004, E. J. Dionne argued “There Is No Catholic Vote—And It’s Important.” Dionne recounted this story of Al Smith with his campaign advisors in 1928: “Smith was attacked viciously in the nativist and anti-Catholic press. They had, among other things,
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[caption id="attachment_16696" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ludwig Blum, Church of the Holy Sepulchre"][/caption]
With apologies for the short notice: Commonweal readers in the New York area might be interested in the current exhibit at the
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Who was the intended audience of Rick Santorum’s speech last night?
The speech was primarily a personal one about his family, God, his grandfather’s reasons for immigrating, God’s grace, hard work, his best friend/wife, his many children, and God. If you closed your eyes during the
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My phone buzzed with emails on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Aunts and Uncles checking in? Updated directions to a Christmas party? Nope. Students complaining about their grades. This had never happened to me before -- on Christmas! Have we reached some kind of breaking point?
When I was a
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If the media is ever going to give Ron Paul the serious coverage he deserves, now is the time. Last week he received a long endorsement from prominent blogger, Andrew Sullivan. Then in the Fox News Iowa debate, he distinguished himself (yet again) from almost all other Republican politicians,
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Seeing this chart today almost brought me to tears. The war in Iraq is over. That’s “Mission Accomplished” on the very left side, and the last troops now coming home within days. We “cased” our flag in Baghdad. President Obama has honored the status of forces agreement created under
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“Are you a believer yet?” asked several emails and text messages I received this morning. It’s hard to resist this particular evangelical movement, especially because all of my friends and relatives have joined it. Having grown up in Colorado, not far from Colorado Springs, source and
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As a teacher, I have some tricks up my sleeve—case studies and object lessons for when the right opportunity arises. One favorite that I learned somewhere along the way goes like this: “OK, everyone take out a scrap of paper. I have a question for an important class discussion. Who have been
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