(OPINION) With a flair for the dramatic, Sayers required British mystery writers to take an oath, which included: “Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them, using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them and not placing reliance on, or making use of, Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo-Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence or the Act of God?”
Read More(OPINION) There’s no better indicator of how fraught things have become in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church than Pope Francis’ surprising last-minute decision to clamp strict secrecy upon his all-important Synod of Bishops. This Vatican assembly, very likely the major event of his reign, is running through Oct. 29 with a second, concluding session a year from now.
Read More(OPINION) It’s not in any way trivializing the ongoing horrors in the Middle East to point out that all of us are equally vulnerable to our own private apocalypses. What does good religion say to us at times such as this — and at all times? Plenty, actually.
Read More(OPINION) The Washington Post recently featured an unusually lengthy newspaper essay by Kate Cohen, a contributing columnist. Cohen’s takeaways are that religion is irrational, there are a lot more atheists out there than you’d imagine, that they should share their beliefs widely and that atheists make demonstrably better citizens than do the religious. But for me, Cohen’s essay is also misleading.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the crucial religion angles related to the Israel-Hamas war. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) The most urgent action needed is the return of the hostages and the provision of assistance to all those affected. It is also crucial to protect civilians from further harm. Furthermore, justice and accountability are key. This raises the question in relation to the involvement of the International Criminal Court.
Read More(OPINION) During the 1990s, legions of kids could quote chapter and verse from “The X-Files,” the adventures of FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Scully was the skeptic who put her faith in science, while Mulder plunged headfirst into the supernatural. But in one case, Scully experienced mysterious visions that helped her save a life. Stunned, she returned to church. Confessing to a priest, she asked why she witnessed a miracle but her partner did not.
Read More(OPINION) The savagery of Hamas terrorists this past week stands in sharp contrast to the snowflakes at Harvard.
Read More(OPINION) As an artist and as a person of faith, Clara Maria Goldstein is difficult to pigeonhole. Raised as a Roman Catholic in her native Nicaragua, she moved to the United States with a 1 year-old daughter, Alejandra, in the 1980s at age 21.
Read More(OPINION) In the midst of the horrors of the last week, it’s important to remember that Hamas has never wanted peace with Israel. Instead, the express goal of Hamas since its inception was the destruction of Israel. As stated in its first charter, published in 1988, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” It was — and is — the mission of Hamas to obliterate Israel, not make peace with Israel.
Read More(OPINION) Is Ukraine a “just war”? The good news for Russia’s Vladimir Putin: A significant national leader announces that his invasion of Ukraine is a “just fight” that will end with “a great victory in the sacred struggle.” The bad news: The speaker is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, so what’s “just” is defined by probably the most despised despot on the planet and what’s “sacred” by an atheist who works to exterminate all religion.
Read More(OPINION) Christians in the Middle East and other places (like Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh) have also had to endure for decades (or even hundreds of years) living in territories occupied by different Islamic groups.
Read More(OPINION) Catholic priests are not used to hearing penitents laugh while lined up for confession. When Father Joseph Krupp peered out of the booth one day, he saw that his broad-chested, 72-pound boxer was in a chair and, when the line moved, the dog took the next chair.
Read More(ESSAY) We heard the multiple boom of Israel’s air defense system — known as Iron Dome — intercepting a rocket barrage fired from Gaza. The strike lit up the sky. The threat was over, at least until the next alert. Nearly 1,000 Israeli civilians had been killed, including 260 massacred at the Nova Music Festival near Kibbutz Re’im, after Hamas on Saturday launched a surprise attack.
Read More(OPINION) As news was breaking on Saturday and we were learning about the atrocities that were taking place in Israel, I immediately wrote an article. But even as I was writing, the news kept getting worse. How could this be happening? It turns out that things were far worse than we could have imagined. Here are some open, honest, raw reflections on the last 48 hours.
Read More(OPINION) Heartbreak. Shock. Agony. Devastation. Confusion. Rage. These are just a few of the emotions flooding the hearts of millions of Israelis in the midst of an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas. This is a time to stop and pray for the merciful intervention of God.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in covers the latest on the Catholic Church’s big synod. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) What I’ve retained about Sept. 15, 1973, is more a feeling than details of a game. It’s an impression. It’s an aura of happiness and relief. In Commonwealth Stadium, amid all the opening day hubbub, Dad and I seemed almost magically removed from our outside lives. In a desert of private unhappiness, we’d stumbled on an oasis: a place where a band played, people laughed and the hot dogs were tasty. Our tension eased.
Read More(OPINION) The world has lost a witness to the counter-narrative of love and service that are possible between people of different races with the death of my friend David Jowitt. Professor of English at the University of Jos in Plateau State in Nigeria, he was the last British person in the university system there.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in previews the Catholic Church’s upcoming synod on synodality in Rome. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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