Catholic Journalism – Every act of teaching or communication, as Augustine addresses in his De catechizandis rudibus, must be attentive to the desires of the listener. The Future of Catholic Journalism (Church Life Journal, Notre Dame University)
Dimes Square – As senior churchmen seek to make Catholicism palatable to modernity, members of a small but significant scene are turning to the ancient faith in defiance of liberal pieties. New York’s Hottest Club Is the Catholic Church (New York Times)
Nothing To See at the CDC – “The CDC finally comes around to acknowledge what I’ve been saying for a year about natural immunity. The University of California’s unjust vaccine mandate no longer has any legal ground to stand on.” Checkmate (Aaron Kheriaty, MD)
Lay Preachers – The end of summer means the end of … the summer Catholic conference season, in which Catholic universities aim to fill their dorms, proclaim the Gospel, and build some brand awareness, by hosting days-long catechetical and evangelical events for Catholic young people and adults. Could Francis establish a Church role for lay preachers? (Pillar Catholic)
Southeast Asia Trappists – In a small town surrounded by forest, these Trappist monks will pray and work for the good of the people in Indonesia. One of the Church’s most austere orders opens its 4th monastery in the world’s largest Muslim country (Aleteia)
Here to Stay – Powerful people think that they can suppress the Traditional Latin Mass. They will not succeed. This is one reason why. VIDEO (Fr. Z’s Blog)
Weaponizing the Rosary – Any military language is sure to run foul of the woke police, so it’s not surprising that the “Rosary is a weapon” language is considered highly suspect. Weapon of Choice (Crisis Magazine)
Push the Moral Panic Button – “People have been propagandized out of having a healthy reaction to a moral horror — the colonization of children’s minds and bodies — overtaking our society” Trans Totalitarianism: Time For Moral Panic (American Conservative)
Arbitrary Punishment – ‘I’ve noticed activity in the prison that makes me fearful for my own safety,’ said the foundress of America’s Frontline Doctors. Dr. Simone Gold says her ‘spirits are high’ as she endures solitary confinement for entering Capitol (LifeSite News)
Energetic Octogenarian – This doesn’t feel like a pope getting ready to quit. Still, by common consensus, we’re closer to the end of this papacy than the beginning. A guide to navigating ‘election season’ in the Catholic Church (Crux)
Reversals are the Hallmarks of Heretics – “A reversal, for Vincent, is not an advance in the Church’s understanding of truth; it is not an instance of a teaching ‘enlarged by time.'” Pope Francis and St. Vincent of Lérins (First Things)
Guardians of Truth – We’re going to dive past the quotes and into the work of six great Christian authors of the 20th century to see why they’re so often talked about and cited in the Catholic world. Exploring 6 great Christian authors (and how to start reading them) (Our Sunday Visitor)
Abortion Ban Stands – A Georgia judge refused to block the state’s heartbeat law August 15, which means it will save babies from abortions. Georgia Judge Won’t Block Abortion Ban, Law Will Keep Saving Babies From Abortions (Life News)
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Dimes Square, New York’s Hottest Club Is the Catholic Church. Julie Yost NYT touches on a welcome phenomenon sprouting in Manhattan. A reaction against the syrupy flaccid huggy Catholicism preached by the Vatican Party. They’ll be branded reactionaries. Rigid insurrectionists begging for schism.
Unfortunately, if there’s schism [it seems more apostasy] it stems from the Party’s repudiation of the perennial doctrine espoused by occupants of the Chair of Peter. The true faith will not and cannot be erased by ideological carpetbaggers posing as churchmen.
In “Reversals” (third from bottom), the author explains Vincent of Lerins on the development (not reversal) of doctrines. He unpacks references often made by Pope Francis, but then clarifies that development is organic, not deforming.
Why does a closing paragraph then include this?—”The theologian of Lérins would likely argue that reversals, especially those of long-standing positions, are best sanctioned by an ecumenical council or at least by the general agreement of the entire episcopacy—although with the pope at the forefront, given the authority of his See.”
In the cause of added precision, and regarding especially the “positions”(?) or doctrines of moral theology, how does this comment square with the encyclical Veritatis Splendor?—“The Church is no way the author or the arbiter of this [‘moral’] norm” (n. 95). Also: “This is the first time, in fact, that the Magisterium of the Church has set forth in detail the fundamental elements of this [moral absolutes] teaching, and presented the principles for the pastoral discernment necessary in practical and cultural situations which are complex and even crucial” (n. 115).
We might ask, what if the fluidity (and postured ‘general agreement’?) of the “endless journey” of synodality obsolesces such past fixed events as even Church ecumenical councils? Such that the embedded and de facto accommodation of sexual perversion and “irregular” marital situation (etc.) is more-or-less mainstreamed—under wraparound “inclusivity” of the periphery? And such that the “paradigm shift” (misappropriated from the natural sciences) shelves, but never formally denies (!), the former steadfastness of developing doctrine and even the innate natural law?
Cryptic signaling, yes?—”Time is greater than space (?) unity prevails over conflict (?)” (Evangelii Gaudium, 2013; an exhortation lower in rank than the encyclical Veritatis Splendor, 1993).
THE CRIMSON WALL
January 23, 1973,
How can it be.
Forty-nine years of devastation,
Leading to the ruin of our nation.
Abortion the elephant in the room,
As a womb becomes a tomb.
Over two thousand children killed every day,
Never, ever allowed to play.
Who should live, who should die,
America needs to look God in the eye.
Our country has bought the lie,
Eat the fruit, you will not die.
Like God you will be,
As your child takes a knee.
Time to end the sea of red,
No more children waking up dead.
America needs a monument in D.C.,
Never forget or let it be.
A crimson wall with over sixty million spaces,
No names, no faces.
3,500 every day, but my own skill at poetry is very near zero.