I would pretty much define the ultimate in bad publicity as a headline on Drudge reading, “Devil at Work in the Vatican.”  That’s certainly going to feed the untiring Vatican conspiracy mongers, of whom there is never a shortage.

The story, based on the comments of the Vatican’s chief exorcist, is itself unremarkable.  Fr. Amorth points to the abuse scandals and heterodoxy, which are certainly a sign of spiritual disorder, but one would have to expect the devil to be at work in the best of times.  He was with Christ in the wilderness, so he will certainly be with the Pope in the Vatican (plus, the food’s better in Rome).

Btw, I’m off to the wilds of Pennsylvania for a few days.  See you next week.

Fr. Robert Barron’s team is close to completing the massive Catholicism Project film.  The project is driven by one fundamental insight, as the trailer states:  the story of Catholicism is being told in the wrong way by the wrong people.  The vague idea of the faith most folks carry around has been shaped more by The Sopranos and Dan Brown than by St. Thomas and the Catechism.

John Paul II and Mother Teresa provided the greatest witness for the faith in the 20th century. All of us have met people whose impression of Catholicism was radically altered by those two alone. A gap remains, however, between such world-historic figures and the daily life and practice of the faith, the tradition that sustains it, and the massive complexity of the global Church. This film attempts to close that gap.

It’s time Catholic apologetics and catechesis learned the lessons of the best documentary filmmakers.  Pious exhortations in maudlin, misshapen vessels don’t do justice to the majesty and beautiful strangeness of the Church.

If you would like to learn more about the project and perhaps contribute to its completion, visit wordonfire.org.

My wife pointed me to the text of an address by Archbishop Chaput to the Congress on Priests and Laity.  He deals with the crisis of belief in our age and the special role of artists.  What is most striking to me is his reminder of the reality of Satan as more than a personified evil.  Too many church leaders are afraid of appearing retrograde or (gasp) medieval.  Not Chaput, God bless him.

It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history – a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity – even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil. In fact, it is more than odd. It is revealing. Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big “mental health” problems. They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful. The devil is only unbelievable if we imagine him as the black monster of medieval paintings, or think The Inferno is intended as a literal road map to hell. Satan was very real for Jesus. He was very real for Paul and the other great saints throughout history. And he is profoundly formidable. If we want a sense of the grandeur of the Fallen Angel before he fell, the violated genius of who Satan really is, we can take a hint from the Rilke poem The Angels:

(more…)

I am sad to report the death of Ralph McInerny, a man that I had the privilege to get to know last year while I was on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame. Here is a portion of a note I received today from a friend in South Bend, Indiana:

Ralph died early this morning at 7:45… It was, from what I can discern, a happy death, serene and full of the acceptance that comes from a sure and strong faith. I know that for me, I never expect to know another like him in this life. He was outstanding in all the important roles of life: husband and father, friend and teacher, inspirer and witness, in love with God and truly love by God. Has there ever been a happier man, a man more able to make all around him smile?

Ralph was the sort of intellectual giant that becomes more rather than less formidable when one attempts to explain to those outside the guild the scope and influence of his work, the generosity of his spirit, and the habits of Christian virtue and philosophical rigor that he imparted to his students and colleagues in both word and deed. Although I did not have the privilege to study under Professor McInerny, I am one of literally tens of thousands, both inside and outside the academy, who has been deeply influenced by his work and example.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May Ralph’s soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

(cross-posed on Return to Rome blog)

Next Thursday, January 28, is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas. Over at my Return to Rome blog, I have dedicated January 23-28 to An Aquinas Catechism. It will include video lectures, excerpts from Thomas’ works, and words of praise from prelates and professors.

You can find the blog here. The first two installments are here and here.

“You can have religous freedom but you shouldn’t work in an emergency room.” – Martha Coakley
—
From Ken Pittman show in Massacusetts:

—
From the interview:

Ken Pittman: Right, if you are a Catholic, and believe what the Pope teaches that any form of birth control is a sin. ah you don’t want to do that.

Martha Coakley: No we have a seperation of church and state Ken, lets be clear.

Ken Pittman: In the emergency room you still have your religious freedom.

Martha Coakley: (……uh, eh…um..) The law says that people are allowed to have that. You can have religious freedom but you probably shouldn’t work in the emergency room.

Amazing, just amazing.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

Amy Sullivan, in her Time story “Going to Church on Christmas: A Vanishing Tradition,” demonstrates a striking ignorance of Catholicism.  Her thesis is that while people still flock to Christmas Eve services, the churches are empty on Christmas Day due to the secularization of the holiday.

Millions congregate on Christmas Eve, she writes:

And they stay home the next day. Or they drive to Grandma’s, or go to the movies. But however they spend Christmas Day — “the feast of Christmas” on the Christian liturgical calendar — one way most Americans don’t celebrate it is by going to church. While demand for Christmas Eve celebrations is so high that some churches hold as many as five or six different services on the 24th of December, most Protestant churches are closed on the actual religious holiday. For most Christians, Christmas is a day for family, not faith.

She doesn’t seem to know that a vigil Mass counts as attending Mass the next day.  To make matters worse, she uses the Catholic celebration of Easter to make her point:

When did Christmas Eve displace Christmas Day as the time for Christians to observe one of the two holiest days in the church year? Some traditions, including Catholics and Anglicans, hold midnight masses on the Saturday before Easter to usher in that holiday. But everyone still shows up the next morning for the traditional Easter celebration, just as Christmas Day remains a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics, who are likely to be found in church the day after attending a Midnight Mass.

By contrast, the Christmas service everyone thinks of as “traditional” is the Service of Lessons and Carols that many Protestant congregations use on Christmas Eve.

No, Ms. Sullivan, we don’t show up the day after attending Midnight Mass, because we don’t have to.  It’s astounding that someone with a degree from Harvard Divinity School who writes about religious matters for a major publication wouldn’t have more of a clue about Catholicism 101 than this.

Then again, perhaps it’s not.

This, BTW, is the same woman who writes so scathingly of the USCCB here and elsewhere.

The Archdiocese of New York has a really well done video on the ordination of five new priests.  It has more the feel of The Right Stuff than the 70s era vocational materials some dioceses are still putting out there.  The fact that the inspiring voiceover is from the Archbishop’s charge makes it all the better.

The civility from the homosexual mafia is out-the-window. A man by the name of Phil Attey (who you can feel free to email at philattey@gmail.com) has set up a website called “churchouting.org” to “out” closet homosexual priests in the Catholic Diocese of Washington, DC. His aim is to lean on the diocese to stop opposing gay marriage for the District. Honestly, when will these guys get called on the carpet for what they are: a bunch of thugs and cheap-shot artists. “Outing” priests—if you think the ability to “decide” how and when to live a lifestyle is so sacrosanct (and isn’t that why homosexuals want the moral approval of the community that marriage brings)—then why on earth do you impose your concept of how to deal with homosexuality on these priests? It is entirely possible that a man chooses to deal with his homosexual tendencies by not acting on them. Heck, I as a heterosexual male choose all the time to deal with my attractions to women by not acting on them. I don’t need some two-bit hack setting up websites and judging me for my personal lifestyle choices, all the while asking me to respect the way-of-life he wants society to approve of.

And to be totally honest, you, Mr. Attey, are a nut-job. Comparing the condemnation of homosexual activity with the sexual abuse of small children? That’s text-book fantacism right there, my friends:

For generations, in Catholic churches across the country, LGBT youth are told they should be ashamed of who they are and that they should lead loveless lives as social and religious abominations.   The emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse inflicted on them by Catholic priests and our church hierarchy is in reality as damaging as the physical or sexual child abuse anyone would quickly condemn.  Yet to this abuse, few raise their voices and say “ENOUGH!”

You want tolerance and acceptance? Fine. You can ask for it. But you’re not going to get it when you go after the very people who have chosen to serve the community and God in a very personal and spiritual manner. You have no right, Phil Attey, to do this. I not only hope the whole world lets you know, but I also hope you get multiple false tips, end up outing heterosexual men, which ruins their reputations, and get slapped with a massive lawsuit. You sir, disgust me.

(Update II: You may download the Manhattan Declaration)
(Update: The Manhattan Declaration’s website)
This, just over the AP wire:

Christian leaders issue ‘call of conscience’

WASHINGTON — More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.

The 4,700-word document, called “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience,” sounds familiar themes from political and social debates over the health care overhaul and gay marriage battles.

While acknowledging that “Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage,” the group rejects same-sex marriage. The declaration states that opening a legal door for gay marriage would do the same for “polyamorous partnerships, polygamous households, even adult brothers, sisters, or brothers and sisters living in incestuous relationships.”

President Barack Obama’s desire to reduce the need for abortion is “a commendable goal,” but his proposals are likely to increase the number of elective abortions, the document contends.

“The present administration is led and staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development, and who want to provide abortions at taxpayer expense,” it says.

Obama has said he wants to strike a balance on abortion coverage in the health care overhaul. The declaration also cites threats to health care workers’ conscience clauses and anti-discrimination statutes it argues impinge on religious freedoms.

Signatories include 15 Roman Catholic bishops, including New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl; Focus on the Family founder James Dobson; National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson; seminary leaders, professors and pastors.

Once the Manhattan Declaration is online, I will post a link to it.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

The Health Care Bill Passes. Blah. Blah. Blah. Historic vote. Blah. Blah. Blah. Catholic Church signs off on it…what?????

By allowing a vote on the amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and other anti-abortion lawmakers, House leaders achieved the latter goal: The Catholic church signed off on the late-night deal and issued a letter early Saturday saying it provide a critical endorsement of the health care package if the amendment is adopted.

Did the POPE sign off on it? Perhaps maybe all the Cardinals in a special, Health-Care Conclave? Someone at the Roman Curia? A Swiss Guard, perhaps? Or was it just a staff member or spokesperson for the USCCB? You mean that same USCCB that has no real juridical authority in the United States according to Church Law? That same USCCB that has more staff working for it than the Vatican? Oh yes. Well, certainly, you’re right. The Catholic Church then DID sign off on the bill and sent Nancy Pelosi a nice collection of Keep-Christ-in-Christmas cards care of the Knights of Columbus.

Check Please!

$1.2 Trillion?

Son of a…..

(Note to SA readers: With all this Reformation talk over the last couple of days, I thought I would share with the SA crowd an idea I’ve had for a while, but never published, on the initial issue over which the Reformation began, Justification, and the Theory of Inscripturation].

Is the Bible 100% God’s Word? The answer, according to Dei Verbum, is “yes.” And yet, the Bible was written by human beings, with their own distinct writing styles and personal touches. As the Baptist NT scholar Dr. Rodney Decker puts it:

Inscripturation is the work of the Holy Spirit by which He guided the minds of the human authors and writers so that they chose the precise words necessary to accurately reflect the exact truth God intended, while reflecting their own personality, writing style, vocabulary, and cultural context. Inspiration refers to the God-breathed character of the written autographs of Scripture which constitute the exact expression of God’s revealed truth. In other words, inscripturation refers to the Spirit-directed process by which the Bible was put into writing, whereas inspiration refers to the product—the character of the written text that was inscripturated.

(more…)

That’s Ray Van Neste of Union University holding a Luther-o-Latern. Ray’s a terrific guy who teaches at a university that includes some of my favorite people including Micah Watson, Justin Bernard, C. Ben Mitchell, Greg Thornbury, and its president David Dockery.

(Originally published on the Return to Rome blog)

On this Reformation Day, I bring to your attention one of my favorite essays, penned by the president of Ignatius Press, Mark Brumley. Entitled, “Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation,” Brumley writes:

Interpreting the Reformation is complicated business. But like many complicated things, it can be simplified sufficiently well that even non-experts can get the gist of it. Here’s what seems a fairly accurate but simplified summary of the issue: The break between Catholics and Protestants was either a tragic necessity (to use Jaroslav Pelikan’s expression) or it was tragic because unnecessary.

Many Protestants see the Catholic/Protestant split as a tragic necessity, although the staunchly anti-Catholic kind of Protestant often sees nothing tragic about it. Or if he does, the tragedy is that there ever was such a thing as the Roman Catholic Church that the Reformers had to separate from. His motto is “Come out from among them” and five centuries of Christian disunity has done nothing to cool his anti-Roman fervor.

Yet for most Protestants, even for most conservative Protestants, this is not so. They believe God “raised up” Luther and the other Reformers to restore the Gospel in its purity. They regret that this required a break with Roman Catholics (hence the tragedy) but fidelity to Christ, on their view, demanded it (hence the necessity).

Catholics agree with their more agreeable Protestant brethren that the sixteenth century division among Christians was tragic. But most Catholics who think about it also see it as unnecessary. At least unnecessary in the sense that what Catholics might regard as genuine issues raised by the Reformers could, on the Catholic view, have been addressed without the tragedy of dividing Christendom.

Yet we can go further than decrying the Reformation as unnecessary. In his ground-breaking work, The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism, Louis Bouyer argued that the Catholic Church herself is necessary for the full flowering of the Reformation principles. In other words, you need Catholicism to make Protestantism work — for Protestantism’s principles fully to develop. Thus, the Reformation was not only unnecessary; it was impossible. What the Reformers sought, argues Bouyer, could not be achieved without the Catholic Church.

You can read the whole thing here.

(Originally posted on the Return to Rome blog)

Today, October 31, is Reformation Day, a day on which many Protestants commemorate Martin Luther’s nailing of his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral on October 31, 1517. Writes Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft, “The Protestant Reformation began when a Catholic monk rediscovered a Catholic doctrine in a Catholic book. The monk, of course, was Luther; the doctrine was justification by faith; and the book was the Bible.”

In 2005, Baker Book House published Is The Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism, authored by the eminent historian Mark A. Noll and journalist Carolyn Nystrom. It was one of the many works that I read on my journey back to the Catholic Church. As I write in chapter 5 of Return to Rome:

Although this led me to read other sources including the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, I also read several reviews of the Noll/Nystrom book, one of which was written by Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary. I single out this review because of its concluding paragraph, which rocked me to the core:
(more…)

Oh, what could have been…

It’s no secret that the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and the American Catholic bishops were pals. Friends, even. Hung out together, drank together, as friends do. Give each other awards. And they had a deal.

“I knew Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy was a friend
of mine. Congressman, you’re no Ted Kennedy.”

The late Edward M. Kennedy’s son, the mostly undistinguished congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), gets an earful from the Bishop of Providence:

(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) -The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, today issued the following statement in response to a Cybercast News Service article that reported: Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) told CNSNews.com that the Catholic Church is doing nothing but fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position that it will oppose the health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress unless it is amended to explicitly prohibit funding of abortion.

“Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that ‘he can’t understand.’ He got that part right.

Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church and to the citizens of the State of Rhode Island. I believe the Congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments. It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will find a way to provide more effective and morally responsible leadership for our state.”

Wow. “Irresponsible.” “Ignorant.” Catholic bishops never would dissed Teddy that way.

And Teddy Kennedy never would have attacked such reliable Democratic Party allies as the US Catholic bishops either—the deal was that the American bishops looked the other way whenever Teddy screwed up, and never opposed him politically.

That was the game, the unwritten agreement. The deal.

You know, opposed him politically over that issue—abortion—the inconvenient Catholic truth on “choice,” inconvenient for Catholics, for Catholic Democrats, and especially for Democrat Catholic bishops.

“Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church.”

…said Bishop Tobin. Wow.

Of Ted Kennedy the man, what should we say? His personal life was certainly a disappointment before man and before God, before his family and before his constituents, and more disappointing than most. But being disappointing is true of all of us, even if to a lesser degree. We shall not judge.

But not only in death, but in life, Ted Kennedy was lionized not just by men, but worse, by the men of his church—and worst, by his bishops—that his politics in service of the poor somehow made up for it all, and as if that issue could be outweighed.

I can’t say I’d be strong enough to resist politics if the tide turned—and Ted Kennedy pulled a 180 from “pro-life” to “pro-choice” in a Boston minute [see Southern Appeal's Alberto Hurtado on "Teddy Who Was Once for Life" for the gory details].

But let’s think just a moment on what America 2009 would be like if the Lion of the Senate, the Lion of the Democratic Party, the Lion of Martha’s Vineyard, had put up just a fraction of his political clout against abortion, as the late Henry Hyde did.

What if there were a “Kennedy Amendment?”

Rep. Henry Hyde was no lion, just some guy in congress. He lived with little fanfare, and died with even less fanfare.

He’s remembered for nothing except one thing— theHyde Amendment stands as one of the few obstacles to the US Government being in the abortion business. It can’t finance abortions. The law is still on the books, for now.

Patrick Kennedy wants the Hyde Amendment gone, of course: erased, sent to the dustbin of history. And I expect that Congressman Kennedy will get his wish in the coming years, unfortunately.

Nothing lasts forever in politics, but what a different country this would be today if there had been a Kennedy Amendment…

Me, I might be a Democrat today, as I’m mushy [or "crunchy"] on a lot of the other issues. And the United States of America would be the standard-bearer in defense of the unborn, in defense of the gift of life all across the world.

Instead of what our country is, a big fat zero, let’s face it.

Patrick Kennedy accuses the Catholic Church of fanning “the flames of dissent and discord.” Ha. I hope you’re right, Congressman, I hope you’re godamm right, and it’s about goddam time the Church did fan the flames of dissent and discord. What’s a church for, anyway? To be an arm of the government?

We can only hope that this flap marks the end of 50+ years of the unholy alliance between the Kennedy family and the bishops of the American Catholic Church, and that “friendship” is over, and the “deal” is off.

See, after all these years of mythmaking about Jack, Bobby and Teddy, their real legacy could have been the “Kennedy Amendment,” in defense of the most defenseless of all, the unborn, and of human life itself.

That’s the Kennedy family’s greatest tragedy of all.

Last weekend I had the privilege to address the 18th annual Marian Conference in Boyne Falls, Michigan. Among the other speakers was my high school classmate, the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Catholic Bishop of Marquette, Michigan. It was such a joy to visit with Bishop Sample, who I had not seen in over 30 years. We are members of the 1978 graduating class of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Enclosed in this blog entry are photos of us at the conference. In one of them is Bishop Sample’s mother, Mrs. Joyce Dory Sample. The photos were taken by Joshua Mercer, the gentleman who directed the conference, and performed exceptionally in that capacity. (For more information on the conference as well as the Marian Center, which is run by Josh and his lovely wife, Lori, see the website mariancenter.org.)

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

I will be a guest on tomorrow’s Deep in Scripture radio program, hosted by Marcus Grodi. The passages of Scripture we will discuss is one that has a profound influence on my life, I Peter 3:14-17 (RSV):

But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than for doing wrong.

You can listen to the program at 9 pm EDT on October 21. It is broadcast on EWTN radio and its affiliates, a list of which you can find here.

Just discovered a new blog at First Things, Evangel. Some of my favorite people are blogging there, including John Mark Reynolds, Russell Moore, Justin Taylor, and my former student Hunter Baker (who recently published the outstanding book, The End of Secularism). I was, however, surprised to find that rabid anti-Catholic blogger Frank Turk is among the cadre of Evangel’s bloggers. Soon after I became Catholic, Mr. Turk opined that my return to Catholicism at age 46 was as hollow as when I became a Protestant as a teenager. Read it here.

I had no idea that Mr. Turk was so gifted in the clairvoyant arts, able to not only jump the space-time continuum to observe my teenage years but to pierce the veil of cognitive and spiritual privacy in order to extract from my soul the reflections, contemplations, and judgments that were instrumental in my journey back to Catholicism. Given his unusual interest in comic book aesthetics, perhaps he possesses powers not unlike the mutants that populate the imaginary world to which he seems so drawn (pardon the pun). Or perhaps he is just ill-mannered and presumptuous.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

I know I would be if I spun this wildly.

[Deal] Hudson argues that the public option will end up extending federal funding for abortion. He says that the courts will step in even if Congress doesn’t mandate abortion coverage in any such plan. Mind you, the courts have not stepped in to over-rule the Hyde Amendment lo these many years. The federal health insurance coverage that members of Congress enjoy does not include abortion coverage. Federal Medicaid funds do not support abortion. So, why would the federal option, which would be modeled after the insurance that members of Congress get, necessarily end up mandating abortion coverage? Hudson does not say. (more…)

I love you like nothing else (except maybe God), but sometimes you just don’t make sense.

By Marilyn Peguero, NBC17,
CARY, N.C. -

The threat of H1N1 is leading to changes in religious traditions, at least temporarily.

The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh asked parishes to take steps to prevent the spread of H1N1 starting this weekend.

Priests and deacons have to wash their hands before and after mass. But Bishop Michael F. Burbidge also asked for more significant changes, including not drinking from the cup of wine during the Eucharist.

“The essence of the mass is the Eucharist. And of course that essence is in both the wine and in the bread,” said Mary Anne Dunham, a parishioner at St. Michael’s Church in Cary. But, “with just the bread, it’s the same essence.”

Other parishioners miss that part of the mass.

“That’s a part of our sacrament and it does make you feel complete and make you whole with one and with God,” said Carla Fugleberg.

The bishop also asked parishioners to avoid handshakes, which some consider an important part of the service.

“When you’re saying, especially, ‘peace be with you,’ you kind of feel like a part of the community and you feel the closeness of reaching out to other people,” Fugleberg said.

Dunham added, “it’s different because you have to hold back where you would normally shake someone’s hand. And you have to just give a nod now. So I do miss that.”

But most parishioners understand why the church is taking the precautions, said Father Mike Spurr.

The measures should be in place until concern about the virus subsides, the bishop said.

Twelve deaths and more than 260 hospitalizations are attributed to H1N1 in North Carolina.

One of the most well-worn cliches in modern politics is that the Republican party and the conservative movement have become too religious.  We’ve been portrayed as scary Christianists bent on creating a theocracy.  Both secular and Christian leftists have attempted to attack the right by claiming especially that conservative economic theory runs directly against Christ’s teachings.  In so doing the Christian leftists have revealed their own  “theocratic”   leanings.  Moreover, they have tried to recruit Jesus Christ to their cause on economic issues because they realize they have fallen short on social issues.

The latest portrayal of Jesus Christ, socialist superstar, is Michael Moore’s latest bomb. (Please go see this movie.  Michael Moore is very sad that you are not seeing his movie.  You could be in grave danger if you don’t go and support him.)  As Ann Althouse details, Moore littered his anti-capitalist screed with a healthy dose of that old time religion.  He trains his camera on Priests who have unkind words for the free market, and Moore of course relies on out of context scriptural readings that evidently support the hypothesis that Christ was the original Marxist.

Alan Colmes – noted non-Christian – also claims that Christ would be not-so-approving of the modern GOP.  It’s always helpful when non-Christians try to claim some insight into what the non-Messiah might have been thinking.

Again, this is all very silly.  But what’s most infuriating about these arguments is that it reveals the left’s own attempts to appropriate Jesus to advance their political interests in a fashion that their opponents rarely do.  Aside from the promoters of the Prosperity Gospel, few conservative Christians actually try to advance the idea that their particular economic theories have been especially endorsed by the Lord.  Of course we’ll argue that our ideas do not conflict with Christian values, and Catholic conservatives will cite passages from both Scripture and the Catechism to disprove the notion that our ideas are at odds with Church teachings.  But rarely will you these same people act as though their ideas and their ideas alone are the only God-approved ways of thinking about economic issues.

The fact of the matter is that we probably all fall short when it comes to economic matters.  There is a strand of conservative thinking that is uncaring when it comes to addressing the needs of the poor and is influenced by a Randian worldview that places far, far too much stock in individualism.  But leftists are guilty of violating subsidiarity, and I believe their reliance on government assistance de-emphasizes personal responsibility and charity.

The Christian left can rationalize all they want, but the fact of the matter is social issues are much more black and white, and Church teachings on matters such as abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and other issues are absolute and unchanging.  Left-wing Catholics and other Christians either ignore clear teachings on these matters or give aid and comfort to those who do.  Therefore I think that when it comes to economic issues, they are driven by a need to prove their Christian bona fides by asserting that they are the good stewards on economic matters.  It’s always rather sad when guilty consciences try to over-compensate for their shortcomings in other areas.  But no one should be fooled by what’s really happening here.

From Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” website:

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning …a note from Michael Moore

Friends,

I’d like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc. can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I’m sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).

In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one’s religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private. After all, we’ve heard enough yammerin’ in the past three decades about how one should “behave,” and I have to say I’m pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes considering we are a violent nation who invades other countries and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.

I’m also against any proselytizing; I certainly don’t want you to join anything I belong to. Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I’ll leave that for another day (or movie).

Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in “Capitalism: A Love Story,” I pose a simple question in the movie: “Is capitalism a sin?”
(more…)

Doug Kmiec, a law professor, pro-life advocate, former Reagan Administration official, and evangelical-Catholic-whatever, took a lot of heat from us usual suspects for endorsing Barack Obama, perhaps the most pro-choice major candidate ever.

“A black man; a caring man; a talented man. A man different from conservative self and yet calling me to find the best of that self.”

Professor Kmiec has now been appointed by President Obama as America’s new ambassador to Malta.

A scene from A Man for All Seasons comes to mind, where Thomas More confronts his betrayer, Richard Rich:

There is one question I would like to ask the witness.

But for Wales?

Or Malta.

The Vatican’s position is that it opposes capital punishment. It’s the normative Roman Catholic teaching, although as far as I know, one can still be a Catholic in good standing if he or she still favors capital punishment.

Me, I think the arguments are stronger in favor of capital punishment: not so much about justice or deterrent value, but especially Dennis Prager’s argument that murderers tend to kill again in prison, guards or fellow prisoners. Once you can bring yourself to kill a fellow human being, adding another to your list isn’t a big deal.

So, Prager argues, if and when the murderer murders again, the moral responsibility lies with those who kept him from his deserved justice and fate.

I’ve tended to agree with that unassailable logic.

My nagging problem with that has been that executing a human being dehumanizes his executioners.

His name is Romell Broom. I could call him a convicted rapist and murderer—which he is—but I think we should call human beings by their names.

In Ohio a few days ago, the state sent Romell Broom to go meet his Maker. Mercifully, by lethal injection. In theory, you just go to sleep. Eternal sleep.

You can read about what happened here.

In short, they tried to find a usable vein to deliver the lethal injection but couldn’t find one. They tried for hours. Hours. In fact, Romell Broom tried to help them find one. He pinched his arm, he rolled over onto his stomach.

No luck.

Finally, the warden called the governor and told him of the difficulties. The governor postponed Romell Broom’s rendezvous with destiny for a week and the execution is scheduled for then.

“What Would Jesus Do” is an often-abused political question. But He wouldn’t do this or be any part of it, and more importantly, He wouldn’t ask his followers to do this, far lesser mortals than He.

He wouldn’t put them through administering this horror, no way, no how. And vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord, and that means vengeance belongs to God, not man. ["Vengeance" doesn't mean revenge, it means justice.]

Man should take that as a relief from the burden of playing God.

No to capital punishment. I guess I just made up my mind, finally. Wish I knew why it took me so long…

This evening–at 8 pm EDT–I will be a guest on EWTN’s The Journey Home. If you do not have access to EWTN, you may watch the show online while it is broadcast this evening. You can access the live stream here.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

On September 8 Christianity Today published a story about the dialogue in which Timothy George and I participated last Thursday at Wheaton College (in Illinois). You can read the story here.

Here’s an excerpt:

Beckwith frequently appealed to experience when navigating the more treacherous terrain still separating Catholics from Protestants. He described a renewed spiritual life since he resumed practicing Catholic disciplines. Despite evident gifting and training in apologetics, Beckwith said he no longer worries so much about winning every argument. Now he is more willing to live with mystery. Speaking in a warm, personal tone, Beckwith worked to avoid antagonizing the mostly Protestant crowd that filled Wheaton’s Edman Chapel.

“God’s grace is meant not only to save me but transform me from the inside out,” Beckwith said. “Protestants describe something similar as sanctification.”

Read the whole thing here. A video of the dialogue has been posted online here.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

Last Thursday, September 3, I participated in a public dialogue with my friend Timothy George, Dean of the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama). Entitled, “Can You Be Catholic and Evangelical?,” it took place at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. A video of the event is now online. You can find it here.

There are many people that made this event possible, including my friend, Timothy George, who is an exemplar of deep learning and Christian charity. Another friend, Chris Castaldo, a pastor at College Church in Wheaton, did an outstanding job in moderating this dialogue. And if not for the generosity of the Penner family, this event would not have been possible. They deserve special thanks for their unyielding support of Wheaton’s Christian mission. And, as has always been my experience at that institution, its leadership’s professionalism and hospitality could not have been bettered. It was a delight to meet both President Duane Litfin as well as Dr. Vincent Bacote, Director of the Wheaton Center for Applied Christian Ethics, the academic unit that sponsored the event. Thank you.

(Originally posted on Return to Rome blog)

I will be a guest on EWTN’s The Journey Home on September 14. It is broadcast at 8 pm EDT.

This is the second time I will have appeared on the program. The first time was on September 24, 2007. You can find a video of that episode here.

Coincidentally, my friend, Mary C. Moorman, a lawyer and theologian, will be a guest on The Journey Home two weeks later on September 28. Mary is a former Presbyterian and Anglican. She is also a former student of my long-time and dear friend Michael Bauman (Professor of Theology & Culture, Hillsdale College).