The Narthex
New Oxford Blog

Communism as Religion
Mao made a pseudo-religion of the Party and aimed for conversion of all nations
By Richard DellOrfano | October 22nd 2021 3:53 PMOn Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's Life is Worth Living show of February 2, 1953 -- the episode entitled "The Death of Stalin" -- Sheen enacted Mark Antony’s eulogy for Julius Caesar, substituting Malenkov and Stalin as the two characters. “And now Malenkov speaks: ‘Friends, Soviets, countrymen, lend me your ears;…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBlind Obedience
As a monk I would have taken several vows: poverty, chastity, obedience, stability
By Richard DellOrfano | October 18th 2021 3:05 PMWhen I was twelve and going to Mass daily, my Masonic father slammed his hand on our kitchen table one evening and asked, “What’s this about daily Mass? No more of it.” I suppose my "excessive" religiosity was from watching Bishop Fulton Sheen on TV every week. Perhaps because my…
READ FULL BLOG POSTImagine
What if the Pope spoke to Pelosi the words about abortion that he often uses?
By James Hanink | October 14th 2021 2:28 PMPope Francis meets and greets Nancy Pelosi. So it went last week. Then followed a practiced exchange of smiles. Since the devil is no respecter of persons, he was doubtless there as well. But our angels love us far more than the devil hates us, so we can hope that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTEvenings With St. Dominic
Snapshot of a daily devotion at the Basilica San Domenico in Bologna
By Dominick Sansone | October 13th 2021 9:16 PMMy globetrotting has currently landed me in the Northern Italian city of Bologna for about a half year. A large university town with a vibrant social scene, Bologna also happens to be the location of the famous Basilica San Domenico (St. Dominic, 13th-century Catholic priest and founder of the Dominican…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThose Left Behind
A photojournalist shines a light on the people ignored by globalist technocrats
By Barbara Rose | October 12th 2021 7:27 PMChris Arnade is a photographer and writer whose bestseller Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America (2019) shone a light on the people left behind by globalist technocrats, on the people "who lack the credentials and advantages of the so-called meritocratic upper class." Back Row Americans…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCall to Be Brave
We cannot take our liberties for granted; they can be snatched away if we drop our guard
By David Daintree | October 7th 2021 2:10 PMTo my mind the greatest challenge of human education is the building and maintaining of historical awareness. How can we have even an inkling of where we stand and where we’re heading if our grasp of the past is feeble or non-existent? Human memory is so short, and deliberate bias…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAn American One-Child Policy?
A recent Senate confirmation hearing tested tolerance for hardline population control
By Jason Morgan | October 5th 2021 1:40 PMOn September 30, 2021, the United States Senate confirmed Tracy Stone-Manning as the new director of the Bureau of Land Management (WashingtonTimes.com, Sept. 30). Choosing someone to fill the Bureau of Land Management director position is not normally cause for a national furor, but this time was different. In a…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAfraid to Die
To the end we must persevere in our belief in Christ’s mercy
By Richard DellOrfano | October 4th 2021 2:19 PMI received a phone call from my 91-year-old friend Lou, who had asked me for advice on several occasions. I had just awakened from a nap, but my grogginess vanished on hearing the urgent tone of his voice. Lately his health had been failing from a hiatal hernia that caused…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Novel Challenge
An archbishop warns on transgender students 'unknowingly' admitted to Catholic seminaries
By Barbara Rose | September 30th 2021 5:42 PMCheck out this headline: "Transgender students 'unknowingly' admitted to Catholic seminaries, archbishop warns" (Catholic News Agency, Sept. 29). CNA reports on a recent memo sent from chairman of the USCCB’s canonical affairs committee, Milwaukee archbishop Jerome Listecki, to members of the full USCCB. A link to the full story is…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPassion: Promise & Peril
A suggestion for some judicious deflating of the word 'passion'
By James Hanink | September 30th 2021 11:37 AMPassion is trending! There’s nary a resumé in which the applicant doesn’t tell us “my passion is…” nor an author’s bio-sketch that doesn’t confide that “______ is my passion.” A precedent: David Hume admitted that literary fame, not philosophy, was his ruling passion. Whatever the passion be, a promise comes…
READ FULL BLOG POSTJPII's 'Game Changer'
Does Theology of the Body develop the moral doctrine of Humanae Vitae?
By James Thunder | September 28th 2021 5:55 PMReview of: Mere Marriage: Sexual Difference and Christian Doctrine. By Andrew D. Cannon, Ph.D. Alphonsus Publishing, available at MereMarriage.com. 215 pages. $24.95. George Weigel devoted eleven pages of his 1999 biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, to the saint-pope’s Theology of the Body. He concluded that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMaster of Illusion
Houdini cautioned his audience about believing he had supernatural powers
By Richard DellOrfano | September 23rd 2021 9:19 PMHoudini was the master of illusion in the 1920s. Like today’s David Copperfield -- the highest paid solo performer in history -- Houdini mystified rapt audiences with incredible death-defying acts. As a youth he worked his card tricks and vanishing acts in dime circuses. After training as a locksmith he…
READ FULL BLOG POSTInfantilizing the People
Sweden has achieved good results with a policy of voluntary, not enforced, isolation
By David Daintree | September 22nd 2021 2:13 PMI have now had both vaccine doses; I’m neither an “anti-vaxxer” nor a conspiracy theorist. But I have good, intelligent, well-informed, and rational friends who strongly oppose the vaccine, and I do not like to see them punished by the infliction of civil disabilities or verbal abuse. Some Christians and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe New Buzz Wxrd
More and more words are being altered by swapping out letters for 'X'
By Magdalena Moreno | September 20th 2021 3:15 PMLiving as I do in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is impossible to keep up with all the neologisms that have been concocted to promote inclusion. Recently I was at a local liquor store browsing the selection of Double IPAs for a friend’s birthday. After grabbing a few,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHearsay Evidence
Trust is the crucial factor in the vaccination decision, but we have lost trust
By Richard DellOrfano | September 17th 2021 2:18 PMIn our everyday decisions we use hearsay reputations to decide, say, for or against a dentist or doctor. Reliable references from former patients are helpful, and as social animals we are inclined to run with the herd to survive. Hearsay statements are used to prove truth or falsehood but are…
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