Welcome to Distinctly Catholic, a blog by Michael Sean Winters that examines politics, religion and the estuary where the two meet, all from a distinctively Catholic point of view. The blog is small "c" catholic as well as big "C" Catholic, examining a wide range of issues but always from the perspective of Catholic history and theology.
Okay, okay. I know the Holy Father does not want us to be "self-referential" but I must confess my disappointment that not a single person, in the comments or by email, picked up on one line in my review of George Weigel's new book. I wrote that Wiegel held up Pope John Paul II as the "model of a major modern papacy." I had in mind the great song from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance." Here is the song:
The inimitable Rocco Palmo looks at the selection of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap, to serve on the G-8 commission of cardinals to advise Pope Francis.
“The first thing we do….” Dick, the butcher, a forgettable role in a largely forgettable play by Shakespeare, gave voice to a sentiment that many people share, even if his remedy was excessive. There is something about the legal profession that makes it especially ripe for satire and worse.
More Provocation.
As if the debate on gay marriage was not provocative enough! This article by Patrick Dineen I commend because it will make both the left and the right squirm. It echoes the point I have been making, namely, that we lost the fight for traditional marriage fifty years ago with the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, but Dineen goes further and points to the ways the ambient culture can be conservative in ways that accelerate the decline of traditional marriage. Interesting stuff.
Kirsten Powers, writing at USAToday, asks why the mainstream media is giving so little attention to the trial of Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor on trial for murder in Philadelphia. The story is horrific, just the kind of thing that normally catches the attention of CNN. But, the story also raises some troubling questions for the culture of death such as, why is it wrong to kill a child that has just emerged from the womb, but two seconds prior, killing the child is a constitutionally protected right?
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to end a filibuster of a bipartisan bill that seeks to curb gun violence by expanding the requirements for background checks before purchasing a firearm. Everything that there is to love and hate about democracy is contained in that vote.
George Weigel’s newest book, Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church, is not without certain moments of lucidity, but fundamentally the text fails to deliver on what the title promises. Yes, he includes buckets of proposals for reform, but not all have anything to do with the Gospel and many are not exactly deep.
Distinctly Catholic: The problem with the president's new budget is not this proposal or that. It runs deeper, encompassing all of his time spent in office.
Yesterday, NCR’s Morning Briefing called attention to an article in the Detroit Free Press regarding recent statements by Detroit’s Archbishop Allen Vigneron and Mr. Ed Peters, a canon lawyer, who teaches at Detroit’s seminary and is a consultor to the Vatican Apostolic Signatura, regarding the issue of those who support same sex marriage presenting themselves for communion. Both men made deeply troubling remarks.
Sign up to get NCR updates by email. Existing users: change your preferences here. Enter your email address in the box below and click “Go.”
Not all of our content is online. Subscribe to receive all the news and features you won't find anywhere else.
