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.
The editors of the Washington Post debunk a so-called "study" by the Heritage Foundation regarding the costs of immigration reform. In a real study, at a real think tank, you try and examine all the data, not only the data that helps you whip up passions. Heritage again demonstrates that it is an advocacy organization pursuing a political agenda, not a think tank trying to ascertain the truth of the matter.
Over at his blog at RNS, Mark Silk contrasts the conflicting, and ever shifting, comments about Fr. Fugee from Archbishop Myers and his chancery staff, with the straightforward statement and action taken by Bishop David O'Connell in Trenton. Fr. Fugee is the priest of the archdiocese of Newark who was never supposed to working with children but who somehow was doing so anyway.
Today, my beloved St. Bernard, Ambrose, is having surgery. I ask for readers' prayers for a successful surgery and that this wonderful beast, who still thinks he is a puppy, will be relatively calm for the two weeks of being crate-bound that are to follow.
Yesterday, I called attention to an article at the Catholic News Agency which discussed both your truly and Melinda Henneberger, saying that we were “reluctant combatants” in the culture war and that we were engaged in “soul searching” on the issue of abortion. Both of these claims were wrong, and wrong at several levels.
I was going to write about the shame in Massachusetts, where no cemetery is willing to receive the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, but Margaret O'Brien Steinfels beat me to the punch. The Bishop of Worcester, where the funeral home is, should step in and offer Christian burial at a Catholic cemetery. That would teach the people about what it means to be a Catholic. Mr. Tamerlan did horrible things, to be sure. But, he is dead now and we can leave his judgment to God.
Yesterday's Washington Post "Outlook" section devoted their weekly "5 Myths" column to the situation in Guantanamo. Worth a read.
The Catholic News Agency has an article by Mary Hasson that features yours truly and Melinda Henneberger on the subject of the Gosnell trial, President Obama, and the politics of abortion. Hasson writes that I am "soul searching" and that Henneberger and I are "rather reluctant combatants." I am not soul searching on the issue of abortion. I am not reluctant to address the issue. More on this tomorrow.
In the current print edition of NCR, my news update on the debate over immigration reform can be found here.
This article at CatholicMoralTheology.com by Charles Camosy shows, again, that the truly scary thing is that the people who advocate this horror are not "bad people," in the common meaning of that phrase. Yet, they embrace this horror as a right and a good. It is frightening that our culture seems more outraged by the prospect of the Keystone pipeline than it does by the horror of infanticide.
There is an interesting debate going on over at First Things. Their editor, Rusty Reno, challenged conservatives to recognize what we on the left have long recognized, namely, that the free market economy needs regulation and that government has a role in redistributing wealth.
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.
