Essays
Is the Barque of Peter Really Seaworthy?
During Pope Benedict XVI’s final general audience, he reflected on his pontificate in the context of the oft-used symbol of the Catholic Church as the Barque of Peter: I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and…
The Confidence of Campion
In the Preface to the American edition of his 1946 biography of the Jesuit saint and martyr, Edmund Campion, Evelyn Waugh wrote: We have seen the Church driven underground in one country after another. The martyrdom of Fr. Pro in Mexico re-enacted Campion’s. In fragments and whispers we get news of the other saints in…
Defending the Sanctity of Human Life with Fr. Ciszek
This month commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision of the United States Supreme Court which held that an unborn child is not a person and therefore not deserving of protection of the laws of the United States. One of the first signs of a totalitarian government is the mastery of words…
In the Light of Reality
For all of the iPhones, iPads and modern comforts and conveniences, we all still seem to want the basics. We want something real. A good hot cup of coffee brewed on a frosty Minnesota winter morning is one of the great gifts of the earth and its Creator (couple it with bacon and eggs, and…
Understanding the Marriage Amendment
Ed. Note. The Bellarmine Forum is pleased to present this guest essay written by Richard Aleman on one of the most critical issues of our day. In Minnesota (as in other states) a vocal and well funded minority has called into question the very meaning of marriage and threatens to redefine it. Mr. Aleman has…
The First and Enduring Sin
This past Saturday–September 29, 2012–in Minneapolis, Minnesota was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature was a warm 80 degrees, and the fall colors of the changing leaves were done as by a master painter. A perfect day for my 7-year-old daughter to play in the front yard. Indeed she was. Into this…
Bad News About the College of Your Choice
“The people have gotten dumber” Retiring Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) John Howard is truly the Dean of American education, a calling which he has faithfully served for over sixty years. He has dedicated his life to the defense of moral education and its vital role in the survival and flourishing of a free society. Because…
Why Do They Hate Us?
Save Me, Lord, from lying lips, From the tongues of the deceitful — Psalm 120 Why do they hate us? No, I don’t mean Al Queda, or the Arabs, or the Persians, or the Taliban. It’s my acquaintances in the media who ask the question – quietly, and among themselves: “Why do the American people…
Prudence, Prelates, and Politics
“If I attacked the Pope, I’d be on the front page of the New York Times Tomorrow” –Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, in Gary, Indiana, 1973 When does a prudential perversion become a calumny? Last week the Rubble reported how Bishop Steven Blaire of Stockton, chairman of a USCCB committee, has over the course of the…
Francis, Ignatius, and Reform
The first indication that the Church had a new Successor of St. Peter came to the Jesuit community at the Gregorian University during its weekly community Mass. As the main celebrant Fr. Javier López was preparing the gifts, a cell phone rang among the concelebrants and within a few seconds the bells of Rome could…