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Must The West Beg The World For Forgiveness?

April 5, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Must The West Beg The World For Forgiveness?

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN As the Democratic Party quarrels over reparations for slavery, a new and related issue has arisen, raised by the president of Mexico. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has written Pope Francis and King Felipe VI to demand their apologies for the Spanish conquest of Mexico that began 500 years ago with the “invasion” of Hernando Cortez. Arriving on the Gulf Coast in 1519, Cortes marched in two years to what is today’s Mexico City to impose Spanish rule, the Spanish language and culture, and the Catholic faith upon the indigenous peoples. “One culture, one civilization was imposed upon another,” wrote President Lopez Obrador: “There were massacres and oppression. The so-called conquest was waged with the sword and…Continue Reading

Restoring The Sacred… Why We Need A “Sense Of Sin” In the Sacred Liturgy

April 4, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Restoring The Sacred… Why We Need A “Sense Of Sin” In the Sacred Liturgy

By JAMES MONTI In His public ministry our Lord made no secret of the fact that contrition is deeply pleasing to Him, that it wins His Heart like nothing else. When the Roman centurion beseeching the cure of his servant sent Him the message, “Lord…I am not worthy to have you come under my roof,” He was so pleased with this humble Gentile that He said of him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:6, 9). When the Syro-Phoenician woman imploring from our Lord the exorcism of her possessed daughter said of herself, “…even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs,” He was so pleased with her that He answered, “For…Continue Reading

Coffee At 4 A.M. And Drummer Boy . . . Speakers At Spiritual Life Conference Take A Look At Suffering And Joy

April 3, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Coffee At 4 A.M. And Drummer Boy . . . Speakers At Spiritual Life Conference Take A Look At Suffering And Joy

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — “The only doctrine of the Church that’s easily observable is original sin,” legendary Catholic convert and apologist G.K. Chesterton pungently said, according to a nun speaking at a mid-March spirituality conference here that was cosponsored by the Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Ohio. Sr. M. Johanna Paruch, FSGM, a member of the theology faculty at the Ohio school for 20 years, gave a lively presentation for about 80 minutes on two topics at the March 16 Spiritual Life Conference 2019 also sponsored by the Institute of Catholic Theology (ICT), based at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church here. Suffering is the result of original sin, Paruch said, and the well-known advice of Catholic Moms to…Continue Reading

A Potpourri… Slave Reparations, Equality, And Other Matters

April 2, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on A Potpourri… Slave Reparations, Equality, And Other Matters

By GEORGE A. KENDALL A few thoughts on slave reparations, a topic again raising its ugly head: People have been doing wrong to one another since Cain killed Abel. When the wrong is perpetrated by one group against another, the wronged group is likely to seek revenge against the wronging group, leaving the latter to in turn seek revenge on the former, setting up a cycle that can go on for generations or even centuries, long after the original wrongdoers and their victims are dead. That is how blood feuds get started. This makes no sense as a way to restore order, which is what we should always be trying to do after a wrong has disturbed it. What is…Continue Reading

Has The Electoral College Outlived Its Usefulness?

April 1, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Has The Electoral College Outlived Its Usefulness?

By MIKE MANNO A few years ago when I was teaching college, I used to ask my U.S. government students how many had voted in the last presidential election. Most, if not all, would raise their hands. I’d count the students’ hands, announced that 20 or so claimed to have voted for president, and then I’d feign surprise and ask, “How can you all have voted when only seven people in Iowa cast the official ballots?” That’s how I’d open the discussion on the Electoral College. Of course, after the 2000 election my jig was up, but until then it was a pretty effective opening. One of the things about teaching political science was how much I found that students…Continue Reading

Vengeance Or Justice?. . . It’s Not Being Beastly If Anti-Trump Plotters Are Called To Account

March 31, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Vengeance Or Justice?. . . It’s Not Being Beastly If Anti-Trump Plotters Are Called To Account

By DEXTER DUGGAN Are pending national political developments poised to demonstrate the difference between vengeance and justice? The former means inflicting excessive or unreasonable punishment, while the latter means administering what’s fair or decent. When one hears of lex talionis, that’s the principle of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That may sound harsh, and devoid of mercy, but it was intended to forbid wild retribution. Or, as one definition puts it, according to lex talionis, the punishment should correspond in degree and kind to the offense. To give one example, if a man poked out your eye, you may poke out his eye. But you may not avenge your eye by collectively murdering him, all…Continue Reading

Socialism Sells

March 30, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Socialism Sells

By CHRISTOPHER MANION The Democrat presidential candidates are moving ever further left, and they’re dragging their party with them. They’ve introduced a wave of radical legislative proposals that have struck a dangerous resonance with millennials. In fact, Gallup reports that young Americans are souring on capitalism. Less than half, 45 percent, “view capitalism positively . . . a marked shift since 2010, when 68 percent viewed it positively.” Note that, for Gallup, “young” means those between 18 and 29. So those polled in 2010 are today between 26 and 37 years of age. Have their views changed with real life experience in a primarily capitalist society? We can only hope. But Gallup adds that a startling 51 percent of those…Continue Reading

Russiagate — A Bright, Shining Lie

March 29, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Russiagate — A Bright, Shining Lie

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN “The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia…to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.” So stated Attorney General William Barr in his Sunday, March 24 letter to Congress summarizing the principal findings of the Mueller report. On the charge of collusion with Russia, not guilty on all counts. After two years of hearing from haters in politics and the media that President Donald Trump was “Putin’s poodle,” an agent of the Kremlin, guilty of treason, an illegitimate president who would leave the White House in handcuffs and end his days in prison, we learn the truth. It was all a bright, shining lie.…Continue Reading

The Death Party And Pastoral Challenges

March 28, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on The Death Party And Pastoral Challenges

By FR. MICHAEL P. ORSI Clergy must minister to people of all backgrounds, all walks of life, all affiliations. As a priest, my mission is to bring the sacraments to anyone who seeks them earnestly and validly, to help people address their life concerns, grow in their faith, and come ever closer to Christ. Though I’ve always had strong opinions, I must be open to people who don’t share many of my views. I often have to strike a delicate balance between principle and pastoral service. In particular, I can’t let politics hinder my efforts to meet spiritual needs. So I must try to restrain certain partisan inclinations that are natural to me. This has become increasingly difficult as the…Continue Reading

Young “Freedom Fighters”. . . Reject U.S. Students’ Dreams Of Socialism

March 27, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Young “Freedom Fighters”. . . Reject U.S. Students’ Dreams Of Socialism

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — Around the Earth, “globalism” has a bad name among conservatives today. The concept is understood to mean overreaching institutions and tentacles of global government. But it used to acknowledge that we’re simply in “a small world after all,” and that world was full of opportunity for someone ready to make big strides. The founder of a program named Project Arizona, which brings other nations’ young citizens to the Grand Canyon State so they can learn to be advocates for small government and constitutionalism, recalled how “globalism” was redefined. “I am not against old-fashioned globalism, which was understood as free trade for all, easy travels, and more opportunities,” Jacek Spendel told The Wanderer. “But recently the…Continue Reading