What keeps social order today are not much-needed principles but tattered social habits. Leftover manners from the past provide the basics for getting along. People go through the motions of meeting and greeting, but they have lost the reasons why they do these things. As these old habits gradually fade, people do … Read more
Had the family kept its natural and traditional structure, the COVID-19 crisis’s impact would have been entirely different. The pandemic would have caused less harm in absolute terms. Infection and mortality rates would also have decreased. This is the conclusion of a new scientific study titled “Coronavirus and Demographics in Spain.” The … Read more
There’s nothing like a reality check. With the COVID-19 pandemic now retreating, a period of reflection begins. Can we learn anything from what happened? Among the lessons of this Chinese virus, one will cause much discussion. That lesson is that contrary to what the LGBT lobby says, men and women are not … Read more
We are living in surreal times in which everything is upside down. As society is opening up from the coronavirus lockdown, perhaps a metaphor best explains what we have gone through. For the last three months, we have been living as if the whole nation is locked up in one huge leprosarium. … Read more
“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and will visit upon the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil” (Zep 1:12). Zephaniah’s severe warning is directed to … Read more
In several recent pronouncements, Pope Francis has hinted that the current coronavirus pandemic is a revenge of nature. “A Revenge of Nature”? In a March 22 interview with Spanish journalist Jordi Évole, Pope Francis was asked whether the present pandemic is not “a revenge of nature”? The pope answered with a popular … Read more
Many South Africans were uneasy with the news of Cuban doctors arriving in the country to help treat COVID-19 patients. The 213-strong team alighted at the Waterkloof Airbase in Pretoria to a show of support normally reserved for visiting heads of state. No less than three members of the Cabinet were on … Read more
The Church has had some difficulty interpreting the pandemic crisis from a theological viewpoint. This is because contemporary theology has replaced the traditional conception of God’s Creation, according to which He created everything out of nothing and produced a whole collection of things mysteriously ordered for salvation. Contemporary theology no longer accepts … Read more
As the debate rages over stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic, most conservative opposition has focused on the damage to the economy, excessive government surveillance, or the massive increase in government debt. These are very valid and important concerns. But the coronavirus’s most enduring damage will not be a lower GDP, higher … Read more
For some high-ranking prelates, God never punishes. To say that the scourge of the current epidemic could be divine punishment would be, for them, a pagan thing. That is what the current successor of Saint Charles Borromeo in the archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop Mario Delpini, said in a recent interview. The reporter … Read more