Monthly Archive: September 2013

Be you therefore perfect…

Catholic commentators on both the left and the right all too frequently attempt to employ the words and deeds of Pope Benedict XVI as a kind of “measuring stick” for evaluating the papacy of Pope Francis. At times this is done to make …

Is Pope Francis a Modernist?

I have little doubt that the title to this piece pretty much guarantees that the majority of Cotton Candy Catholics won’t even bother to read it. You see, for those who prefer to dwell in that fairy tale version of Catholicland wherein nary …

When God says “run!”

A recent blog post entitled, Losing my religion, by Mary DeTurris Poust, who is a Catholic writer and the wife of Dennis Poust, the Communications Director of the New York State Catholic Conference, is garnering a lot of attention. (See posts by Deacon …

Father-of-the-Year

Consider for a moment the “House of God” as it existed when John XXIII ascended to the Throne of St. Peter. The liberals and the ill-informed might insist that it was in a terrible state, but most of us realize that’s a lie. …

The Pope’s Interview

The pope’s nearly 11,000 word interview with America Magazine will be debated for months. My contribution to that discussion begins with the following ten takeaways. May I first beg your forgiveness for my failure to hold up for applause every expression offered by …

The Pope’s Interview: A Preface

Before attempting to get my hands around the pope’s interview with America Magazine, I’d like to make two preliminary observations: Number one, informal papal interviews are a bad idea. The voice of the pope is the most powerful force on earth. Whenever the …

The pope reads my blog

Look, I’m neither Sherlock Holmes nor Sherwin Williams, but please allow me to draw from the palette of circumstantial evidence to paint you a little picture. Pope Francis reads my blog. There, I said it. Yea, I know… it sounds awfully arrogant, but …