CatholicCulture.org - In Depth Analysis of Catholic Issues

The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:55:00 GMT

Writing about the rise and fall of the Catholic Church in the United States is a very tricky thing, and Russell Shaw has done a fine job of it in his new book from Ignatius Press, American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America. The task is tricky not only because of the need for precise judgments about the pressures and tendencies which led to the profound secularization of the Church in America, but also because of the danger of regarding the history as uniquely American. After all, the same thing has happened everywhere in the West.

Abstinence-Only Sex Education: A Caution

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:56:00 GMT

Being a 65-year-old curmudgeon, I sometimes have to be reminded that social media has its uses, despite the fact that CatholicCulture.org maintains two different Facebook pages (see www.facebook.com/catholicculture and www.facebook.com/liturgicalyear). Heck, I even tweet the appearance of most of the things I write here (or at least I have twooted them in the past). But do I follow the tweets of others or “friend” people on Facebook? Do I respond to Facebook and LinkedIn invitations? Well no, no I don’t.

Christ Loved the Church: Francis Throws Down the Gauntlet to Religious

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:10:00 GMT

Pope Francis has begun his assault against the secularization of religious life, attacking the late-20th century tendency to separate religious commitment from the Church in order to serve the spirit of the world. We have seen this tendency in the shift to purely secular service among women religious, accompanied by New Age spirituality and feminist careerism. We have seen this tendency in the penetration of Modernism into religious formation, the fostering of homosexuality in religious life and, among male religious at least, also pornography and even sexual abuse.

Proper Theological Method Prevents Enormous Problems

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:50:00 GMT

The late Fr. William Most—the theologian and Scripture scholar represented in our special Most Collection—influenced me in many ways. One of the most valuable lessons he taught me was a fundamental principle of theological method in resolving apparent differences in Magisterial teachings over the centuries. It is a lesson I’ve repeated many times in my writings here; it apears in the sixth position below.

OK, so what sort of renewal did Vatican II prescribe?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Pope Francis recently insisted once again on the importance of implementing the renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council. Unfortunately, every time I insist (with the last five popes) that the Second Vatican Council gave us the program of Catholic renewal that we are supposed to be following, I receive messages which (usually at great length) run something like this: “If the Council was so great, why has the Church suffered so much since that time? I’m tired of hearing about the Council. Clearly we need to go back before the Council to find authentic Catholicism.”

The Mandatum Issue: Beware of Superficial Judgment

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:48:00 GMT

Pope Francis’ decision to wash the feet of women in the prison in which he celebrated the Mass of the Last Supper has created a bit of a stir, especially among liturgically-conservative Catholics. Critical responses have ranged from a mild concern about the larger impact on rubrical observance of the Pope’s decision to outright condemnation of the Pope, as if he has somehow revealed “his true colors”. The former reaction is reasonable; the latter is not. There are simply too many aspects of this issue to consider for anyone to be jumping to conclusions.

Liberalism: Must we really make it all on our own?

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:09:00 GMT

When a serious Catholic talks about liberalism, he is not referring primarily to a political preference but to a philosophical outlook. For example, the Catholic is far more interested in whether the fundamental principles of liberalism conflict with a Christian worldview than in whether many liberals happen to favor extensive government programs to support the poor. In exactly the same way, the Church’s official condemnations of liberalism have not centered on specific social policies but on general attitudes toward religion and supernatural truth.

The Church: Like Us in All Things, But Without Sin

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:16:00 GMT

I love the Church so much, and in fact so intimately, that I can hardly express it. Many people seem to accept the Church as a sort of necessary evil, putting up with its hierarchical structure, its authority, its sacramental system, its Magisterial teachings, and so on, because they suppose, after all, that Christian life has to be organized and perpetuated somehow, and the Church is what has evolved to play that role over a long period of time. Such persons very frequently work out justifications for selectively ignoring the Church, forming an incongruous and even incompatible set of values and commitments while remaining nominally Catholic. But not me. To me, the Church is Christ.

Interregnum: The Church Then, Now and Tomorrow

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:06:00 GMT

We are now between popes, and that is certainly an occasion to reflect deeply on who we are and where we are going. This is also an appropriate Lenten task for all of us, and the present circumstances suggest that we ought to consider how faithfully we have responded to the Petrine ministry in the past, and what we need to make that ministry more effective in the future. For “he who hears you hears me” and “he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk 10:16). Though Christ said this of all the disciples, it applies preeminently to Peter and his successors, for whom Our Lord prayed, that they might confirm their brethren in the faith (Lk 22:32).

Epistemic Authority: Preferring the True and the Good to the Self

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:06:00 GMT

Catholics who have made a deep commitment to their faith find the modern world puzzling. Every time they try to argue a position they are met not so much by counter-arguments as by ridicule. This ridicule takes the form of dismissing out of hand all those who permit a religious authority to “control their lives”. And so Catholic puzzlement arises from simple incredulity: How can anyone be so foolish as to refuse religious authority on principle?