Opinion: Faith
Valedictory to Pope Benedict XVI
What made me weep, as I watched television coverage of Pope Benedict’s visit, was the simple act of the pope giving communion to people. The news media relayed many over-the-top comments about what the pope’s visit meant: “It’s like Jesus coming to America.” I wrote a panegyric myself about Benedict’s gifts. But Pope Benedict’s… READ MORE >
Opinion: Faith
After the Pope: Time to Hit the Books?
It’s going to take a while for all (or any) of us to absorb the significance of Benedict XIV’s first apostolic visit to the United States. Unlike his predecessor, the larger-than-life John Paul the Great, who from the first displayed an actor’s genius for what one observer described as “the symbolic gesture”,… READ MORE >
Opinion: Faith
Gazing Upwards: The Pope’s Homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Although I’d followed Pope Benedict from event to event during his visit to the U.S., one of the most moving moments for me was watching him on TV as he delivered what I believe was his most personal statement, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. As pastor of the Universal Church, the Pope is most at home with the Eucharist and the… READ MORE >
Opinion: Politics
Beyond Left and Right: Awaiting the Pope’s Next Encyclical
G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “The whole modern world has divided itself into conservatives and progressives. The business of progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” The tired categories of Left and Right, which we associate with Liberal (or Progressive) and… READ MORE >
