The Narthex
The Sunday Commute
New urban planning eschews suburban sprawl. Parish consolidations push parochial sprawl
By John M. Grondelski | June 17th 2025 11:40 AMWhile post-pandemic Sunday Mass attendance in the United States has increased, it has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Adoremus asked me to write about whether, post-COVID, parish Masses should still be televised or made available online. My judgment was that, while broadcast Masses help the sick and shut-ins, they have…
READ FULL BLOG POSTUSCCB's Credibility Mess
One has to ask: What really is their “pre-eminent issue”?
By John M. Grondelski | January 27th 2025 3:02 PMEven the most cursory social media survey in the past 24 hours suggests Vice President J.D. Vance’s comment about the money that flows through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for “immigrant” services touched a nerve among the bishops, who managed to react in the middle of a…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe States & Free Exercise of Religion
Let’s amend state constitutions to prevent future shuttering of churches
By John M. Grondelski | May 27th 2024 3:17 PMPaul Benjamin Linton is author of the magisterial Abortion under State Constitutions -- which has gone through three editions -- and the recognized pro-life authority on that subject. While Roe v. Wade held abortion policy hostage to an imagined federal “right,” Linton reminded us that every state has its own…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMasking Attitudes
Activists chant 'death to America' while cowering behind surgical masks
By John M. Grondelski | April 19th 2024 3:23 PMLast weekend, as Iran launched missiles and drones on Israel, that coterie of pro-terrorist leftists Lenin once aptly titled “useful idiots” were launching protests in various American cities. One social media posting showed a group in Chicago learning Persian. They were learning marg bar Asra’eyl (“death to Israel”) and marg…
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