Swedish Lutheran ‘bishops’ Antje Jackelén (L) and Eva Nordung Byström (Magnus Aronson/IKON, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) “Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination. … The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.” Angelo Stagnaro The main problem with illicit ordinations is that they destroy the Church’s unity by creating a competing authority structure. This is not in keeping with the Scriptural admonition: Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it …
Category: Apologetics
Shooting the Orthodox Catholic Messenger
Shooting the Orthodox Catholic Messenger Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek The renowned philosopher Josef Seifert issued a cri de coeur last month expressing grave concern that if Amoris Laetitia n. 303 is taken literally (as some are in fact doing), this could destroy Christian morality by suggesting that God can command immoral acts. Despite the professor’s acknowledged expertise and dedicated ecclesial service, the Archbishop of Granada, Javier Martínez Fernández, immediately accused him of damaging the communion of the Church and announced Seifert’s “resignation” from a philosophical institute associated with the archdiocese. Shooting the messenger, however, is not a solution …
Shroud of Turin
Robert J. Spitzer SJ is a Jesuit priest, philosopher, educator, author, speaker, and retired President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Spitzer is founder and currently active as President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing educational materials on the complementarity of science, philosophy, and faith. He is President of the Spitzer Center of Ethical Leadership, dedicated to helping Catholic and for-profit organizations develop leadership, constructive cultures, and virtue ethics. Introduction The Shroud of Turin is a burial shroud (a linen cloth woven in a 3-over 1 herringbone pattern) measuring 14 ft. 3 …
Prudence
Prudence In February of 1522 Ignatius Loyola was travelling to the shrine of Monserrat when a Moor rode up to him. The two men then rode together. As they were discussing about the Blessed Virgin the Moor said he could not believe she remained a virgin after giving birth to a child. Ignatius insisted she did and as they argued over this point, Ignatius grew increasingly agitated. As their conversation deteriorated the Moor decided to press on ahead, and Ignatius soon lost sight of him. As he reflected on the conversation his temper remained fever pitch to a point he …
Preach the Truth by Fr. Weinandy
Priest Dismissed by US Bishops Keeps Speaking the Truth In recent essay, Fr. Weinandy claims the Church is betraying her own identity A Franciscan priest dismissed by the U.S. bishops for his orthodoxy remains undeterred from his calling to preach the Truth. Father Thomas Weinandy, in an academic essay shared online this week, expressed his concerns about the state of affairs in the Church today: Granted, the post-Vatican II Church was rife with divisions — disputes over doctrine, morals and the liturgy. These disagreements continue still. However, at no time during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI was …
Pork Roll, Lent, and Catholic Identity
Pork Roll, Lent, and Catholic Identity by George Weigel A few weeks before Ash Wednesday, an Associated Press squib with Lenten implications appeared in the Washington Post sports section: YANKEES: New York’s Class AA affiliate in Trenton, N.J., will change its name from the Thunder to the Pork Roll on Fridays this season. The pork roll is a New Jersey staple, served on breakfast sandwiches and as a burger topping. For those unfortunates who didn’t grow up in the I-95 corridor between the Holland Tunnel and the southern outskirts of Baltimore, I venture to explain. “Taylor Pork Roll,” also known …
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation
Soon after the publication on April 9 of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on holiness, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), various scholars were invited to give their responses to the document for this Register article that was published last week. One of them was Professor Josef Seifert, the Austrian Catholic philosopher, whose positive take on the document has been published.. Another was Professor Claudio Pierantoni, a patristic scholar of medieval philosophy at the University of Chile, who takes a more critical view and whose entire contribution is now published below. Pierantoni says the document has “beautiful and useful pages about holiness,” but on the …
Our King and Queen
Our King and Queen When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus (Jn. 18:37-38) whether he was really a king, Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” It sounds as if Jesus is “changing the subject.” What does “testifying to the truth” have to do with being a king? Plato theorized that the only hope for having a good and just kingdom would be having a philosopher king. Historically, the candidates for being called …
Cdrl. Cupich’s Convenient Conscience
On Cardinal Cupich’s problematic, convenient conscience Conscience is not the ground of moral authority; nor is it the final judge when it comes to what is actually moral and true. To say so is to attack and undermine the teachings of the Church and the authority of St. John Paul II’s “Veritatis Splendor”. Carl E. Olson. When I first became Catholic, over twenty years ago, I focused much of my writing on apologetics and controversies with various forms Fundamentalist or Evangelical Protestantism. As I already knew, having grappled with them myself, the key points of contention were authority and the …
On Being Catholic
James V. Schall, S.J., who served as a professor at Georgetown University for thirty-five years, is one of the most prolific Catholic writers in America. Among his recent books are The Mind That Is Catholic, The Modern Age, Political Philosophy and Revelation: A Catholic Reading, Reasonable Pleasures, Docilitas: On Teaching and Being Taught, and Catholicism and Intelligence. The basic principle of civilization is the Socratic norm that it is never right to do wrong. The corollary of this principle is that nothing evil can happen to a good man. Death, then, is not the worst evil. Thus, if, even at …