Edwin Benson 
Pope Francis’s “Paradigm Shift”: Continuity or Rupture in the Mission of the Church? An Assessment of His Pontificate’s First Five Years. Pope Francis places Catholics in a dilemma. Many have the very understandable, indeed holy, desire to obey the Successor of Saint Peter. At the same time, Pope Francis seems … Read more
If you want to be accepted as an intellectual in today’s American society, you must be seen as an environmentalist. Those who fail to express support for the environmental agenda risk being branded as evil, in denial, stupid or even insane. Intelligent, rational people simply are environmentalists. To qualify as an environmentalist, … Read more
“I used to think that violence and war in the Middle East were caused by Muslims and what is written in the Quran. Now I think that’s not true; I believe Islam promotes peace, but individuals interpret the word of God in different ways.” The above quotation is from a student at … Read more
Frontier Catholics? What frontier Catholics? The idea that there were Catholics on the American frontier is unfamiliar to many. The early history of the United States is often thought of as a product of Protestantism. Our earliest settlers, so the accepted story goes, were English—some Puritans and others Anglican—but all Protestants. Maryland … Read more
The town of Houghton-le-Spring in England is hardly the sort of place that you would expect to find an uproar over schools and religion. Mark McLachlan’s twelve-year-old step-daughter goes to the Kepier School in Houghton-le-Spring. Mr. McLachlan was looking through his stepdaughter’s school planner when he noticed an assignment that angered him. He … Read more
The new book Lighting the Way: Stories that Show How Our Culture Went Wrong and How We Can Restore Order is a collection of stories arranged to illustrate an idea. The idea is that of the organic Christian society. That is an unfamiliar idea to many, although we live in and around … Read more
After Ireland’s vote to end its ban on abortion last May, the next step is a campaign to normalize the practice of homosexuality. The most visible Catholic spokesman for the attempt to “build bridges” in this area is Fr. James Martin, S.J. He is scheduled to speak at the World Meeting of Families to … Read more
Most people think of Communism—if they think about it at all—as a purely economic force. That is what we were taught in school and university; it is what we will hear in the rare instances when Communism is discussed honestly in the various media. That understanding may be correct as far as … Read more
To say that there is a crisis in the world of Catholic catechesis is an understatement. Three generations of Catholic young people have been ill-served by the formation in the faith that they deserved but did not receive. Of course, they did not object much, nor are many of them objecting now. … Read more
It is possible to see 1945 as the watershed of the twentieth century. The fall of Nazi Germany, the capitulation of Japan, the first use of atomic weapons, the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, and the beginning of the Cold War all happened during that epic twelve … Read more