Rediscovering baptism in plague time May 3, 2020By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference Let me urge you again: make this time of plague and quarantine the occasion to dig the “Catholic paper” out of your records, find your baptismal certificate, and learn the date of your baptism. And then, with appropriate celebration, ponder just what happened to you that day.
Flannery O’Connor and friends, revisited February 18, 2020By George Weigel Filed Under: Arts & Culture, Commentary, The Catholic Difference At the end, that is the deepest impression her letters leave: here is a woman of extraordinary courage whose configuration of her life to the Cross was a source of both personal strength and literary genius.
Christmas, freedom and obedience December 25, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference The Christmas story is a lengthy meditation on a counterintuitive but essential truth: true freedom, genuine liberation, comes through freely chosen obedience to God’s purposes.
The well-fought fight December 18, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference Alas, like many other hymns, “For All the Saints” is an endangered species today, gutted by parish music directors and pastors who commit the grave sin of not singing a hymn in its entirety — or worse, who bowdlerize the lyrics to coddle the sensibilities of the Church of Nice.
The ideological hijacking of Pope St. John XXIII October 24, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference The dying parts of the Church are those still misreading John XXIII.
What kind of “believers”? October 10, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference Catholicism is dying in the German-speaking world, not because the Gospel has been proclaimed and found incredible or hard, but because it hasn’t been proclaimed with joy, confidence, and zeal.
As “The League” begins its centennial season…. September 6, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference Gino Marchetti of the old Baltimore Colts was a big man in several ways.
Heroism and priesthood, Dachau and Amazonia August 20, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference The heroes of Dachau’s priest-barracks found a way to keep sacramental life alive, in full fidelity to the Church’s tradition. Is that impossible in Amazonia? Or elsewhere?
The Ratzinger Diagnosis April 24, 2019By George Weigel Filed Under: Blog, The Catholic Difference The Pope Emeritus did the Church a service by offering a diagnosis of the abuse crisis that should be taken seriously by anyone serious about healing the wounds inflicted on the Body of Christ by the abuse of Holy Orders for wicked, self-indulgent purposes.
Cleansed and conformed to God’s will November 30, 2018By George Weigel Filed Under: Blog, The Catholic Difference We must all intensify prayer and penance. We should all be inviting to church those who have left out of boredom, anger, confusion, or disgust.
A century after the Armistice November 14, 2018By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference The Great War destroyed Western confidence in traditional authorities and bred a deep skepticism of, and even contempt for, “the great and the good” that remains a factor in our public life.
The Summer Reading List July 14, 2018By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference The vacation season is an opportunity to escape TwitterWorld and do some serious reading. These books will help make your summer enjoyable, instructive, or both.
