Blogposts

Cardinal John Henry Newman (now St. John Henry Newman) was an inspiration of Germany's greatest heroine in defying Adolf Hitler, scholars have claimed. New documents unearthed by German academics have revealed that the writings of the 19th-century English theologian were a direct influence on Sophie Scholl, who was beheaded for circulating leaflets urging students at Munich University to rise up against Nazi terror.

One of the premier Catholic thinkers and philosophers in our country is Edward Feser. He recently published an essay called “Perfect World Disorder” where he talks about the meaning of order and disorder and its effects on our country. You can read the whole essay here: postliberalorder.substack.com/p/perfect-world-disorder.  But for purposes here, some bullet points and observations from his essay and Frank Sheed’s Society and Sanity.

Christ entrusted to the Apostles the mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God and preaching the Gospel of conversion (cf. Mk 16:15; Mt 28:18-20). On the evening of the day of his Resurrection, as the apostolic mission is about to begin, Jesus grants the Apostles, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the authority to reconcile repentant sinners with God and the Church: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). Through the centuries, the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance has developed in different forms, but it has always kept the same basic structure: it necessarily entails not only the action of a Bishop or priest, who judges and absolves, tends and heals in the name of Christ – but also the actions of the penitent: contrition, confession and satisfaction.

Pope Benedict while Cardinal Ratzinger expressed himself on the title of this essay in a book called The Ratzinger Report. He said: It seemed exaggerated to me. So it was difficult for mater to understand the true meaning of another famous expression…the declaration that designated the Virgin Mary as the “conqueror of all heresies.” Now in this confused period where truly every type of heretical aberration seems to be pressing upon the doors of the authentic faith-now I understand that it was not a matter of pious exaggerations, but of truths that today are more valid than ever.

'Shun the worship of idols!', (1 Cor. 10:14), [Saint Paul] writes to a community deeply marked by paganism and divided between the observance of adherence to the novelty of the Gospel and the observance of old practiced inherited from their ancestors. ...

The word 'idol' comes from the Greek and means 'image', 'figure', 'representation', but also 'ghost', 'phantom', 'vain appearance'. An idol is a delusion, for it turns its worshiper away from reality and places him in the kingdom of mere appearances.

Over at the Rorate-Caeli blog historian Roberto De Mattei comments on the papal trip to Canada and his apologies concerning the resident schools and the indigent peoples. You can read the whole piece here: rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2022/08/francis-unwise-mea-culpa-in-canada-by.html#more

An Essay from Archbishop Charles Chaput on the Responsibilities of Catholic politicians and Catholic citizens.

Thinking with the Church as we look toward November

"If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck. A fox can claim to be a duck all day long. But he's still a fox." We've all heard that saying, or some version of it, a thousand times. The reason is simple: It's true. Our actions prove who we are. If a gulf exists between what we say, how we look and what we do, we're not living in a spirit of truth. A fox, even if he quacks, is still a fox. Sooner or later, it becomes obvious.

Below is an excerpt of the sermon by Cardinal Blessed Clemens von Galen, who came to be known as “the Lion of Munster,” delivered on Sunday, August 3, 1941, in Münster Cathedral, in which he risked his life by openly condemning the Nazi euthanasia program. Code named "Aktion T4," the Nazi program to eliminate "lives not worth living" began on Hitler's order in October of 1939. The program at first focused on newborns and very young children. Midwives and doctors were required to register children up to age three that showed symptoms of mental retardation, physical deformity, or other symptoms included on a questionnaire from the Reich Health Ministry.

To live well is nothing other than to love God will all one’s heart, with all one’s soul and with all one’s efforts; from this it comes that love is kept whole and uncorrupted(through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence)

With respect to the state of the Church, former Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra said : “Only a blind man can deny that there's now in the Church great confusion.” Part of the reason for the confusion is the refusal of pastors to follow, speak clearly about, and teach the doctrine and moral teaching of the Catholic Church.

Most people are familiar with the name Frankenstein most probably from the movies that have been made with this title. The caption above is a famous scene from the Frankenstein movie after Dr. Victor Frankenstein “creates” life by piecing together bodyparts from dead cadavers and “juicing” them with electricity. Part of the caption was censured in the 1930’s. The audience only heard: “It’s alive. It’s alive. The rest was eliminated because it was thought to be blasphemous.

1. What is the importance of marriage today? Marriage is the fundamental building block for all other human relationships. If there is a single cause for most of today’s evils, both religious and secular, it is the weakening of marriages and family.

2. What kind of marriage will succeed today? Only a counter-cultural marriage. The present culture is often alien and hostile to marriage. It exalts the individual before the good of a spouse or family or children. It is an environment of selfishness and materialism. Only couples with strong values based on the things of God will thrive in this culture.

A talk years ago by a Dominican friar called Hell: You Better Believe It addressed a pastoral problem in the Church that some (many?) ignore or deny the teaching on Hell and think everyone is going to heaven. Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote an essay in the magazine First Things called “The Population of Hell,” noting a complaint that no one preaches about Hell anymore. St. Jose Escriva writes in The Way#747: Worldly souls are very fond of thinking of God's mercy. And so they are encouraged to persist in their follies. It is true that God our Lord is infinitely merciful, but he is also infinitely just: and there is a judgment, and he is the Judge.

Lt. (Rev.) Thomas M. Conway, a 37-year-old Navy Chaplain from Buffalo, New York, was sleeping soundly on July 31, 1945, on board the USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser. At 12:14 a.m. the first torpedo from the Japanese submarine, I-58, blew away the bow of the ship. An instant later the second struck near mid ship on the starboard side, the resulting explosion split the ship to the keel, knocking out all electric power. Within 12 minutes the unescorted cruiser slipped beneath the surface of the Philippine Sea, midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 900 men made it into the water. Few life rafts were released; the majority of the survivors wore the standard kapok life jacket and life belts. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later, only 316 men were still alive.