Regular Contributions
From Whence the AmChurch Name Comes and its Dictionary
In the wake of John Paul II’s celebrity and the tide of hope Pope Benedict brought to many who long for plain chant, reverence, and clear succinct catechetical materials, there is a creature of machinery long forgotten. This beast of a machine used to present itself as the future of the Church, progressing headlong into…
The Return of AmChurch? – New York at Center of Suspension of Sheen’s Cause
With recent news from New York it is strange that today the Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of Peoria and President of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, announced that the Cause for Sheen’s beatification and canonization has for the foreseeable future been suspended. Just two years ago, on September 9, 2012, a…
Not So FAST… It really is about politics.
The website of the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in Clearwater, Florida carries information about Faith and Action for Strength Together (FAST), which is a congregation-based community organization in Pinellas County, Florida, operating within the DART network. The page concerning FAST states: “The organization is not political but rather, it is biblical.”(1) This assertion…
Who Needs Isis? AmChurch Meat Grinder Hitting Our Saviour Church NYC?
Another thing I’ve seen over and over for the past twenty years and more is the politely stated, politically correct, and sensitive velvet glove that is worn on the outside of a giant destructive machine known as AmChurch. These guys come in with a smile and speak of pastoral needs, concern for the poor, and…
Did We Turn a Corner? No, no. Not to worry…the Catholic Campaign for Human Development remains true to its founding mission.
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is an annual collection that has, for the past 45 years, funded Alinskyian community organizing and other progressive political-advocacy. This has always troubled pro-lifers whose own advocacy to protect the child in utero is systematically undermined by CCHD grants. Although CCHD claims to support a “seamless garment” approach…
“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…
The Dormition (Assumption) of Mary from Around the World
It always surprises me when somebody makes the claim that the Pope invents theology and tries to support their claim by pointing to the dogmatic pronouncement of the Assumption (Dormition) of Mary. A brief little tour of cathedrals and icons dedicated to this feast shows that the Dormition is a part of Christianity to the very…
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…
The Life and Mission of a Liberationist Priest: When political activism fails social justice
A biography about Msgr. Geno Baroni by journalist Lawrence M. O’Rouke, Geno: The Life and Mission of Geno Baroni, begins with a couple of notions that crystallize the great divide over what constitutes social justice. “It was no longer enough…to respond with charity to appeals for a food basket, the month’s rent, or a bag…
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…
