28 March AD 2024

THVRSDAY EDITION

Benedict & The Scandal

I often find myself envying unbelievers: Does not contemporary history provide abundant evidence that Catholics are a mentally inferior species? Their rush to conform to the opinion about Catholicism held by rationalist secularists is stunning. ☩ Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., at First Things

My Initial reaction to Benedict XVI’s latest essay: a cri de coeur

Benedict doesn’t give specific, curiosity pleasing solutions and he left a lot of things unsaid. . . ☩ Fr. Z's Blog

In Academia as in Government, Personnel Is Policy

News is that Providence College, where I taught for 27 years, will be getting a new president in 2020. ☩ Anthony M. Esolen, Ph.D., at Crisis Magazine

Jesus Cheered, Then Killed: Palm/Passion Sunday C

This Sunday’s readings might seem bipolar or schizophrenic. We begin Mass with exultant cheering as we relive Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. . . ☩ John Bergsma, Ph.D., at The Sacred Page

Benedict’s powerful message & the bid to suppress it

. . .Benedict has spoken out dramatically, with a 6,000-word essay on sexual abuse that has been described as a sort of post-papal encyclical. ☩ Philip Lawler at Catholic Culture

Benedict XVI Breaks His Silence on the Catholic Church’s Sex-Abuse Crisis

In a German-language essay published Thursday, the pope emeritus provides a way forward. ☩ Edward Pentin at National Catholic Register

Benedict Speaks

Sex, scandal, the Church, and a general atmosphere of disintegration: That’s the main focus of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s unexpected intervention into today’s unhappy Church politics. ☩ R.R. Reno at First Things

Indian Bishop Formally Charged With Rape

Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, India, maintains his innocence. ☩ Catholic News Agency via National Catholic Register

Why is Facebook censoring a conference on Christianity and religious freedom?

. . .is intolerance of Christians slowly creeping into our western societies? ☩ Augusto Zimmerman at Spectator Australia