John M. DeJak
Blasé Cupich?
When I heard of the announcement of the new Archbishop of Chicago this weekend, I checked my Twitter account. I like Twitter for the fact that I have several news sources that give interesting and up to the minute tweets on newsworthy (and sometimes not so newsworthy) items. So, of course, I wanted to check out the…
Giving Over the Keys
The Edgewater Beach Apartments are an interesting sight on Chicago’s north side lakefront. Built in 1928, it was part of a complex that housed the famed Edgewater Beach Hotel which was built in 1916. The pink exterior of the building may strike some as gauche, but it was meant to complement the original Edgewater Beach…
“The Ambiguity of Islam”–Members of ISIS are Authentic Muslims
I commend to the readers of the Bellarmine Forum, a most excellent explication on the truth of Islam by one of the Holy See’s experts on the issue, Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. His book, 111 Questions on Islam, is not only timely, but it is essential reading for anyone who not only wishes to understand the current resurgent…
To Restore What Has Been Seized Unjustly
If the Christian Religion forbade war altogether, those who sought salutary advice in the Gospel would rather have been counseled to cast aside their arms, and to give up soldiering altogether. On the contrary, they were told: “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages,” the command…
What Our Grandparents Have Always Done
I’ve been following opera and Italian food expert Fred Plotkin for a number of years now. Politically, philosophically (in large measure) and theologically, we would likely find ourselves opponents. He is a self-described “pleasure activist and egalitarian,” whereas I assent to an orthodox understanding of a divinely ordered hierarchy in the universe and recognize–in a phrase that may…
Discussion: Men and the Church
Recently I had the privilege of being asked by Mr. Matthew Christoff to sit down for an interview on the state of men in the Church. Mr. Christoff’s apostolate–The New Emangelization and Catholic Man Night–is becoming increasingly popular and provides solid spiritual food for Catholic men. Where go Catholic men…there goes the Church. You can listen…
Dear Bishop Galantino…
“The legalization of the termination of pregnancy is none other than the authorization given to an adult, with the approval of an established law, to take the lives of children yet unborn and thus incapable of defending themselves. It is difficult to imagine a more unjust situation, and it is very difficult to speak of…
The Totalitarianism of Equality
Even though I have differed in some conclusions from the late Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J. in discussing the life of the Church in the context of the United States, I have always agreed with his proper framing of the question: The question is sometimes raised, whether Catholicism is compatible with American democracy. The question is…
The Canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII and “Traditionalist” Pusillanimity
On this Quasimodo ( Dominica in albis, Low, and Divine Mercy) Sunday, I am shocked at the pusillanimity of some of the so-called traditionalists in the Church. A great gift has been given to the whole of the Church with SS. John XXIII and John Paul II and yet, some traditionalists foment an attitude of “hunkering down”…
