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A review: Every talented writer is entitled to be a bore on at least one subject, but where religion is concerned Christopher Hitchens abuses the privilege. For years now, he has supplemented his prolific punditry and criticism with a stream of anti-theistic diatribes, and now these rivers of vituperation have pooled into a single volume,…

Sandro Magister reflects on the state of the Church in Tuscany, reprinting a recent article by a professor of the sociology of religion in Florence, who in turn (are you still with me) uses a recent letter from some Catholics in the area, a letter decrying the Ratzinger/Ruini way: And this “Letter,” too, has little…

English and Welsh bishops make a statement: Human embryos injected with animal cells, or chimeras, should be accorded human status under proposals to be considered by the British Parliament in the fall, said the Catholic bishops of England and Wales. They also said politicians should reconsider a proposed ban on the implantation of chimeras into…

A few weeks ago, one of the bloggers at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex commented on Phliip Jenkins’ observation that some forms of Christianity are growing in Europe, and Eurabia might not be inevitable: I would only add that if the future of Christianity lay in its pentacostalist and charismatic movements, then it has no future at all. These…

I read Fr. Richard McBrien’s latest column last night, and spent a few minutes with teetering between feelings of "well of course he would say that" and "what is he saying?" The column is on conversion. Fr. McBrien writes that in the old days, people became Catholic because they believed in that Catholicism was the…

That Motu Proprio. Pope Benedict issued a Motu Proprio today  – about Papal elections. From VIS: Made public today was a "Motu Proprio," written in Latin, with which the Holy Father Benedict XVI restores the traditional norm concerning the majority required for the election of the Supreme Pontiff. According to this norm, in order for…

So, I spent most of late last week and the weekend working on this study guide for The Apostles, finishing up today with suggestions for opening and closing prayers for each of the twelve sessions. The study guide will be available free, online at the OSV site – obviously it’s not there yet, since I…

Praying for the China Letter. More than 600 female monasteries are praying “so that the Holy Father’s letter is well-received, China opens up to the Gospels and give unrestricted religious freedom to all believers.” This initiative is the brain-child of Card Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, and Fr Ciro…

Eric Miller of Geneva College takes a quick survey of some recent books on the Jesus issue in Christianity Today – from Marcus Borg to Craig Evans. That is, from the Jesus Seminar gestalt to refutations of same. Not surprisingly, it is a pastoral burden that drives many Jesus writers, the desire not to clear…

Today, Benedict visited the Vatican Library, which has been in the news lately because of a 3-year shutdown that will begin in July. The closing has caused much distress to scholars, as detailed by the NYTimes here Since the Vatican announced the impending shutdown, dozens of scholars have been lining up each day at ever…
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