Topics

From the NOR Dossiers

A Cinematic View by Robert E. Lauder

Clerical Complicity… Out of Africa… The Marx Brothers as a Sign of God?… Trivialized Sex, Cheap Film… Memories of Great Comedies from the Past… and more

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Abortion

What Goes on Inside the Clinic… Consumed by Zeal for the Culture of Death… Eugenics in the USA… Graphic Images: An Apologia… Bumping Off Baby… Pro-Abortion & Anti-War?… Unwanted Children? Disposable as Last Sunday’s Paper… and more

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America: History, Culture & Politics

Losing Our Religion… American Libidocracy… Twilight of the Idols… The Most Segregated Hour… This Land is Not Our Land… and more

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American College of Louvain

The Catholic University of Louvain In Belgium, Parts I and II… ‘Crash Nash’… Shriveled Is Good… and more

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Anglican Communion

What Does the Anglican Patrimony Have to Offer the Church?… A Slow-Motion Implosion… Lifeboats on the Tiber… more

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At the Movies

The “Biggest Nothing” in History… Surprise! A Hollywood Film that Treats Fatherhood with Respect… Peering Into the Abyss… more

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Atheism

Are There Atheists in Heaven?… A Laborer in Darwin’s Vineyard… Hell as the Atheist Heaven… Has Science Made God Superfluous?… more

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Balthasar & Speyr

Balthasar, Christ’s Descent & the Empty Hell… The Dubious Adrienne von Speyr… The Inflated Reputation of Hans Urs von Balthasar… and more

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Basil's Travels

God & Man in Kyiv… Graffiti in Warsaw, Mormons in Krakow, & Basements in Auschwitz… At Mass in Lenin’s City… and more

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Biblical Scholarship & Controversies

Which Church Is the Real Bible Church?… The Jesus Seminar: Making Uncomplicated Things Complicated… The Ineffectual Jesus of the Jesus Seminar… more

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Biotechnology & Posthumanism

On Man’s Many Attempts to “Kill Death”… Breaking the Species Barrier… Human Alienation & Our Biotech Future… and more

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C.S. Lewis

“Mere Christianity” as Merely Protestant… C. S. Lewis: His True Stature in Dispute… The Best Book Written About C.S. Lewis… more

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Capital Punishment & the Death Penalty

Is There a Biblical Basis for Capital Punishment?… Sister Prejean’s Lack of Credibility… Vengeance Is NOT Mine, Says “the Lord”… more

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Catholic Education Trends

Fr. Ted’s Big Trade… Catechesis & the Average Catholic… The Secularizing of Catholic Universities… Conformed to the World?… more

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Catholic Home Schooling

“But What About Socialization?”… Home-Schooling for Survival… Home-Schooling & Sacramental Preparation…

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Chesterton

The Optimistic Pessimism of G.K. Chesterton… A Curmudgeon for Our Times… Distributism’s Significance for Our Social Predicaments… more

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Christ & Neighbor by John C. Cort

Shame on You, Harvard!… The Rich & the Miserable… Neither Karl Marx Nor Adam Smith… The Sins of the Right & the Left… and more

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Christian Classics Revisited by James J. Thompson Jr.

Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited… Ronald Knox’s The Belief of Catholics… Edwin O’Connor’s The Edge of Sadness… and more

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Common Cup Debate

Bacterial Roulette?… The Common Cup & the Common Bug (by E. Coli)… and more

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Communism & Marxism

The Soviets’ Doomed Battle with Byt… Kindred Spirits, Fellow Victors… Croatia: “The Ramparts of Christendom”… If Not Communism or Capitalism, What?… The Crumbling of Communism: Good for the Catholic Church?… and more

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Conversion Stories

Exotic Seed, Sown Deep in the Persian Dust… From Murderer to Monk… My (Crooked) Path to the Monastery… Why Attila the Hun Would Have Sacked a Protestant Rome…

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COVID-19

On Feeling Safe… Will the Coronavirus Lockdowns Usher in a Mustard-Seed Church… Dying Alone During the Pandemic: The Example of St. Augustine… Countering the COVID-19 ‘Expert’ Narrative… and more

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Cultural Counterpoint by Jason M. Morgan

“Raising Awareness”: Reducing Philanthropy to Vanity… Denizens of a Pale Blue Dust Mote… Emblem of an Exhausted Era… Finding Security Behind Closed Doors… and more

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Dorothy Day & the Catholic Worker

No Catholic Church, No Dorothy Day… The Catholic Worker: Is It Still Catholic?… The Gentle Catholic Radicalism of Peter Maurin… more

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Economics & Catholic Social Teaching

Cooperation & Supernatural Brotherliness… What Does It Mean to “Serve Mammon”?… Why Consumerism Still Consumes Us… more

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Ecumenism & Ecumania

A Trialogue With C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther & Thomas Aquinas… The Catch-22 of Ecumenical Relations With Evangelicals… and more

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Episcopacy in the Catholic Church

Cardinal Cupich’s Uncertain Trumpet… The Church’s Strange Reappraisal of Islam… Canon Fire: Burke vs. Wuerl… Wily Guys… more

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Eschatology & End Times

The Antichrist in Political Philosophy… Isaac Newton: End-Times Prophet… Your Final Destination… Last Judgment (Lite)… more

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Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide

All Aboard the Suicide Train… True Medical Care or the Law of the Jungle?… The Return of the Physician-Executioner… and more

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Evolution & Intelligent Design

Is a Gender War Woven into the Fabric of Creation?… Darwinian Departures from Reality… Must Human Evolution Contradict Genesis?

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Exorcism, Possession & the Problem of Evil

Devil or Disease?… Why Is There Evil in the World?… Perfect Possession… Peering Into the Abyss… The Dark Side of Self-Sacrifice… more

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Fanatical Feminism & Women Religious

The Prayers of Moloch’s Modern Priestesses… Feminists: The Worst Misogynists?… Our Testosterone-Depleted Church…

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Fatima: Secrets & Conspiracies

Marian Misconceptions… An Epic in Search of an Ending… The Private Interpretation of Private Revelations… more

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Flannery O'Connor

Fragmented Lives of Incomplete Reckoning… Tyranny of the Perverse Will… From the Grotesque to Love… Flannery O’Connor: And Her Own Received Her Not… and more

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Goodbye, Good Men & U.S. Seminaries

Picking on the Average Joe Who Stood Up for the Little Guys… U.S. Seminaries: Condition Stabilized… Killing the Messenger…

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Harvard Diary by Robert Coles

Rembrant’s Old Ones… Moral Smugness… Gang Members: Their Street Education… Voluntary Poverty… more

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Hell

Hell and Other Destinations… Is Hell Closed Up & Boarded Over?… Hell, Air-Conditioned… and more

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Higher Education

The Cult of Diversity at Providence College… Ivy League Culture Wars… Is Georgetown Still Catholic?… and more

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Homosexuality & Gay Pride

The Truth About the Homosexual Rights Movement… It’s Good for Business… The Unwelcome Ex-Gay Phenomenon… more

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Humanae Vitae

Conveying the Message of Humanae Vitae to the People of Today… The Triumph & Tragedy of the Most Misunderstood Document in Modern Church History… Why Humanae Vitae Got It Right… The Spirit of Humanae Vitae… more

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Integralism

Integralism: A New Totalitarianism?… Francis or Fundamentalism: A False Dichotomy… The Stale Good Guy/Bad Guy Formula… and more

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Interviews & Dialogues

The Odyssey of an American Priest in Guatemala… An Interview With a Carmelite… Pope John XXIII through the Testimony of Silvio Cardinal Oddi… On the Canonization of Pope Paul VI… and more

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Islam

Are Islam & Democracy Compatible?… The Church’s Strange Reappraisal of Islam… Prayer Postures: What They Mean & Why They Matter…

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Just War Theory & the Iraq War

The Blood Crying Out from the Ground… The Woeful Plight of Iraqi Christians… Fuel Conservation: No War Needed… War’s Challenge to the Christian Conscience… more

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Language & Its Destruction

On the Deconstruction of Language… “On This Rock I Will Build My Celebration Center”… Ev’ry Knee Shall Lock…

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Last Things by David Mills

This feature closes each issue with poignant and humorous observations of people and events… and more

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Latin Mass

At Mass, Actions Speak Louder Than Words… Where Has All the Latin Gone?… The New Mass Just Can’t Be Fixed…

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Lavender Mafia Files

Protecting the Lavender Mafia?… Why Won’t Our Bishops Solve the “Gay” Priest Problem?… Gay Priests Set the Tone…

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Legion of Christ

Why the Popes Failed to Act… Power, Money & Mind Control… The Self-Destruction of a Cult of Personality… more

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Letters from England by John Warwick Montgomery

Jesus & the Bell Curve… The Religion of Dr. Johnson… Dracula or Jesus?… The Virgin Birth: A Problem?… more

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Literature & Literary Criticism

Is Modern Man Too Healthy for Literature?… Flannery O’Connor & the Representation of Mystery… Reading as Sacrament…

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Literature Matters by Michael S. Rose

What “Old Books” Have to Teach Us About Being Human in the 21st Century… Dracula By Bram Stoker… “William Wilson” By Edgar Allan Poe… and more

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Liturgy, Liturgical Rites & Devotions

Liturgy that Speaks to the Soul… Altar Boys: The Problem or the Solution?… Turning Catholics Into a Stiff-Kneed People… and more

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Marriage, Divorce, & Annulments

How Remarried Catholics Can Validly Receive Communion… Blessed Are the Shack-Ups… ‘Til Annulment Do Us Part?… more

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Mary, Mother of God

Marian Devotion as a Way of Life… Return to the Message of Fatima… The Virgin Birth: Where Science Meets Scripture… and more

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Neoconservatism

Delusions of Grandeur… A Pox On Both Your Houses… What Is a Neoconservative & Does It Matter?… and more

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Neuhaus

A Striking Rejection of Magisterial Teaching?… An Ex-Lutheran Still in Recovery… The One-World Church… If Everyone Is Saved…

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New Age, Paganism & Gnosticism

The Variety & Theological Implications of Private Revelations… Our Pantheistic Sisters… Yoga & Christianity… Neo-Pagans Are Giving Ancient Paganism a Bad Name… and more

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New Oxford Notebook by Pieter Vree

Father Figuring… At Last, a Reckoning?… Ecce Papa Franciscus!… An Outcast Among Organization Men… and more

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News You May Have Missed

Congratulations, It’s a Cyborg… Jesus Christ, Extremist… Identify-as-a-Boy Scouts… Get Me to Taco Bell on Time…

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Pakistani Refugees

Overcoming Our Culture of Indifference… In Bureaucracy’s Grip… Learning the Meaning of Longsuffering… From a Witness in Bangkok to a Near Martyr in Karachi… and more

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Poetry

The Final Match… Thaws… Who Taught You?… Sonnet… John XXIII… The Soaring Birds of Freedom

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Political Correctness

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being… The Fraudsters of Islamophobia… Don’t Call It ‘Adultery,’ Call It ‘Loving More’… and more

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Pop Culture & the Entertainment Industry

The Birth-Control Box in the Living Room… Peering Into the Abyss… Smoke If You Must, But Get Rid of That Execrable TV…

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Is Benedict to Blame?… Sex, Lies & Dossiers: The Vatican at the Crossroads… The Kasper-Ratzinger Debate… more

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Pope Francis

Chronic Confusion, Polarization & Polemics in the Church of Francis… A Pontificate of Mercy or a Merciless Pontificate?… more

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Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII: Vindication… Heroes or Villains?… The Latest Skirmish in the Pius Wars… Not Hitler’s Pope… more

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Pope St. John Paul II

Kindred Spirits, Fellow Victors… The Pope as Playwright… Neither East nor West: On the Pope’s Radical New Encyclical… and more

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Pope St. Paul VI

On the Canonization of Pope Paul VI… Pope Paul VI’s Prophetic Warning… A Belated Apology to Pope Paul VI… and more

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Priest Sex Abuse Scandal

Priestly Pedophilia: Soul-Murders or Merely “Incidents”?… How Many of Our Priests Are Leading Secret Lives?… and more

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Pro Life Issues & Culture of Death

The Nowhere Between Life & Death… Planned Parenthood: Seventy Years of Defying the Law… Graphic Images: An Apologia… Bumping Off Baby… more

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Public School Education

The Common Core: A Curriculum for Clever Robots… The Corruption of Children’s Literature (Even in Catholic Schools)… more

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Race Relations

Should Christians Pay Reparations for Racial Injustices?… I Am Not White… The Liberal as Graceless Pharisee… Religion & Race in the South… and more

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Radical Traditionalism

Traditionalist & Progressive Totalitarians in the Church… Why Catholic Orthodoxy Is Not ‘Catholic Fundamentalism’… and more

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Revert's Rostrum by Casey Chalk

Learning the Meaning of Longsuffering… Humanae Vitae: A Manual for Better Sex?… The Strange Magnetism of Virtual Fisticuffs… and more

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Sacred Music

Rising from the Mire… In Praise of Honest Sentiment… Why the Music Is So Bad… Offering Our Musical Best at Mass… and more

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Same-Sex Marriage

The Catholic Church After Obergefell… Faulty Analogy… “Gay Marriage” Is Not Marriage. Here’s Why… Love on Trial… and more

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Shakespeare

The Catholic Dramatist in a Protestant Land… An Academic Undoes the Renaissance… Shelter From the Storm… more

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Short Stories

Screwtape 2020… A Trialogue with C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, & Thomas Aquinas… Miracles Do Not Speak Halfway… Socrates on Pot… more

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St. John Henry Cardinal Newman

The Two Worlds of John Henry Newman… Newman’s Advice to Anglo-Catholics… Newman’s Prophetic Challenge to Clericalism…

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St. Thomas Aquinas & Thomism

Can Neo-Scholasticism Make a Comeback?… Can Thomism Save Science?… Dumb Ox?… Can We Revitalize Catholic Higher Education?… more

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Technology

On Nurturing Man’s Spiritual Relationship with Technology… Social Media & the Decline of Human Reason… The Technological Society: Where What’s Artificial Seems Natural… On the Fundamental Evil of Fragmentation… and more

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Transgenderism & Conflation of the Sexes

Are There Male & Female Virtues?… Our Testosterone-Depleted Church… Effeminacy in the Service Of Capitalism… and more

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Travelogues

Freak Bus Across Afghanistan… The Divine Life of St. Nazianz… Postcards from the Ruins of a Christian Civilization… and more

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Universal Salvation

Presumption: A Pathetic Self-Deception… Automatic Forgiveness… Vengeance Is NOT Mine, Says “the Lord”… and more

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Vatican Watch

A Coming “Crackdown” in the U.S.?… The Mansour & Kisnik Cases… A Clear Line… The Appointment Process… and more

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Vital Works Reconsidered

When No Man Was His Own… A Thomistic Vision of Man’s Final End… Purgatory on Earth… What Is Free Time For?… and more

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Wacky Theologians

Reverend Mother Libertine… A Legacy of Dissent… The Hydra of Heterodoxy… Idiocy Undisturbed… and more

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Walker Percy

Walker Percy, the Episcopal Church & Kierkegaard’s “Apostle”… Human Alienation & Our Biotech Future… Attempting to Discredit Walker Percy… and more

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Women's Ordination & the All-Male Priesthood

The Emasculate Priesthood… Understanding the All-Male Priesthood… Why Was Christ a Male & Why Did He Ordain Only Men?… more

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