The Narthex

President Trump’s announcement to enhance federal control of policing in Washington DC to fight crime in the nation’s capital is welcome. Talking heads insist that “crime is down” in DC, that Trump’s move is “cover” for not wanting to discuss the Epstein case, that it usurps “home rule,” and augurs…

“What? Curiosity is a sin”? I waited quietly. “Nonsense,” says my dear wife. “I won’t bother reading any more of this blather.” My response: “Well, don’t you wonder why the op-ed guy claims it is?” Privately, I lamented her reigned-in curiosity. But my curiosity was piqued, so I decided to…

"Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised."  The Collect for the 19th…

The pilgrimages across Poland have begun. Every year in early August, from every corner of Poland, people set out on walking pilgrimages across the country to converge on Czestochowa, Mary's national shrine, on August 15. It's a multi-generational tradition. Parishes and local communities assemble and walk, usually 12-15 miles per…

When we celebrate a Catholic wedding, we do so for more than the couple marrying. We do so for all those present. The same is true for baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. How many of the people present to witness a Catholic marriage are not Christian, are Christian…

As part of their settlements with the Trump Administration, Columbia and Brown Universities have agreed to provide applicants' grade point averages and standardized test scores. The New York Times is appalled (link below). I am not. Large swaths of American higher education refuse to let DEI -- diversity, equity, and…

Italy once had so-called “adult Catholics,” a term coined to describe a more liberal approach by some Catholics to ethical and social issues like abortion, aimed at distinguishing themselves from the "rigid" line of the Catholic Church. The expression "adult Catholics" was used by then-Prime Minister Romano Prodi in 2006,…

At first glance, this past Sunday’s readings seem to focus on wealth and goods in the context of memento mori. The farmer blessed with a bountiful harvest gathers his grain into his newly-built and expanded barns, convinced he has ensured his long-term security. But his “security,” i.e., his life, does…

Governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania have announced they are providing free breakfasts to all kids in schools of those states because kids should not be in school with “empty bellies.” Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is introducing legislation to declare public transit free because…

“Everyone has their own religion.” So said my mother, a thoroughly Irish Catholic. What was I to make of it? (My father, whose piety was more wintry, kept his own counsel.) Looking back, I suspect what my mother had in mind was that different people have different spiritualities. Nonetheless, given…

The July-August NOR features my article "Two Immediate Threats to Contemporary Liturgics." In it, my thesis is that three disciplines employed in the methodology of modern liturgical studies are not in proper relationship: there is a limited perspective on history, an overwrought but selective focus on canon law, and too…

A little over a year ago, I walked up Capitol Hill one morning behind two female staffers. Most staffers are very young -- generally twenty-somethings -- because they're either college/grad school interns or just graduated. The two young women were sharing one's excitement about moving into an apartment in DC.…

John Michael Osbourne died in England a few days ago. According to a family statement as reported by Fox News, Osbourne died with his family by his side, “surrounded by love.” The world knew Osbourne not as John Michael but as Ozzy. For decades Ozzy Osbourne was the frontman of…

The trial of John Scopes, the Tennessee teacher who taught evolution despite a state law banning it, ended in his conviction a century ago this week. Many who comment on the case cast it as a conflict between “science” and “religion.” Those elements were present. I prefer, however, to cast…

News sites and gossip boards are spilling over with talk about Jeffrey Epstein. The American government, one of the most morally debased institutions to ever exist, is busy denying what is obvious to almost everyone else. Epstein (1953-2019) was a human trafficker, sex abuser, blackmailer, and probably double or triple…