The Narthex

As a moral theologian, I am interested in just war theory. Just war theory, which governs whether a country can go to war (jus ad bellum) and what it can do in war (jus in bello), is essentially a nation’s right to self-defense. That’s why I reject the arguments that…

If you were to visit Misericordia, you would first see the impressive physical setting. The grounds are spacious and are beautifully landscaped with shrubs, pine trees, tulip bulbs, a gazebo, and a toboggan hill. The Village consists of nine homes. They are lovely and spacious. Each has six full baths…

The world of chess has a new champion, from China, and his name is Ding Liren. It’s easier to pronounce than that of his final round opponent, Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. China sees the new champion as a hero, though chess was once dismissed as a frivolous pastime of the West…

Among the ambiguities of his Disney appearance, Pope Francis remarked that the Church’s “catechesis on sex is still in diapers.” Various commentators have voiced disappointment or even outrage over that phrase. I take it as a compliment. The Church’s sexual ethics is still in -- more accurately, into -- diapers.…

Nine months ago I bought a new high-quality car battery because mine was ten years old and might give up the ghost any day. My auto mechanic honored the aged device as a ‘miracle battery’ for lasting so long. Since I’m now in my eighties and "on borrowed time," I…

In announcing that non-bishops would be able to vote in this fall’s Synod on Synodality, Rome tried simultaneously to hype and downplay the news. Channeling its inner Leslie Neilsen, the synodal website blandly headlined the change as “Some News for the October 2023 Assembly.” General Relator Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich gave…

On Sunday, May 21, the University of Notre Dame will award its highest honor, the Laetare Medal, to Sister Rosemary Connolly, RSM (Religious Sister of Mercy), age 92. When the announcement was made on Laetare Sunday, it was accompanied by a video (linked at the bottom of this post). Previous…

After delivering a muddled set of remarks about assisted suicide which now the Pontifical Academy for Life claims do not mean what most people think they mean, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia wants us really to believe that he was merely engaging in a thought experiment about how Italian civil law should…

When Jesus performed miraculous healings, those he cured -- along with their friends, relations, and all observers -- gave praise to God. Beginning the moment of their cure, these men, women and children would talk nonstop about it. The man with leprosy “started talking about it freely and telling the…

Pope Francis has on several occasions voiced support for an idea, percolating among the Vatican’s professional ecumenical and liturgical classes, to establish a “common” date for Easter between Catholics and Orthodox. The current driver seems to be wanting to “do something” to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council…

Let us first consider that Jesus was not always in the immediate presence of the people He cured, just like the prophet Elisha who directed Naaman to go to the River Jordan. Naaman was incensed with Elisha. “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and…

Up for a joke? Well, I am. My wife not so much. And my daughter not at all, at least when it’s my joke. First she frowns, and then she gives me the “stink eye.” Perhaps, gentle reader, you’d like a sample, the better to judge for yourself. Here’s one…

The Octave Day of Easter—the Sunday following Easter—has gone by several names, including Divine Mercy Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter. One of its oldest names is Dominica in albis, “Sunday in white,” because this was the day that those newly baptized at the Easter Vigil historically took off…

You get pretty used to the idea that Jesus worked miracles, don’t you? I do. For me, a fresh look was prompted when I noticed a detail from Matthew’s Gospel (15:29-31):

Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great…

George Herbert (1593-1633) wrote the following pretty lines in the shape of a pair of wings to signify our final aspiration to soar heavenwards in Christ's triumphant Easter train:

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till…