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After Wagner, Is Putin Better Or Worse off?. . . The Russian Bear In His Lair Leaves ’Em Guessing

July 2, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on After Wagner, Is Putin Better Or Worse off?. . . The Russian Bear In His Lair Leaves ’Em Guessing

By DEXTER DUGGAN The Soviet Union as a lumbering bear was one symbol that had emerged of the vast, Communist-oppressed territory by the second half of the twentieth century — dangerous but slow on its feet, as epitomized by its elderly, ashen dictators.Western observers called “Kremlinologists” or “Sovietologists” offered their insights, such as they were, into the bear’s ways — insights that often were establishmentarian and neither predicted nor desired a sudden upset and end to the cunning beast’s domineering rule.After all, you have to be realistic and not perturb favored expectations during afternoon tea, some thought.It likely would have been considered at least irresponsible if not amazing by the foreign-policy elite in, say, 1978 for a Sovietologist to foresee…Continue Reading

Should Catholic Bishops Go On Strike?

July 1, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Should Catholic Bishops Go On Strike?

By CHRISTOPHER MANION Historian Peter Brown finds many occasions in the late Roman Empire illustrating the truism that power comes with the bestowing of gifts. In the late fourth century, with these gifts “both the state and the clerisy [were] able and willing to celebrate hubristically their superiority and generosity,” he writes.Of course, Catholics don’t need Lord Acton to know that power corrupts: We knew that already from John’s First Letter and from Augustine’s City of God. What Lord Acton added was the dimension of absolute power, which “corrupts absolutely,” he wrote. “Great men are almost always bad men…[and] despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.”Sixty years ago, there were few men who would call Lyndon Johnson a…Continue Reading

A Bishop For The Times . . .

June 29, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on A Bishop For The Times . . .

The Wanderer would like to express its wholehearted support both in prayers and public expression for the good Bishop of Tyler, Texas, Bishop Strickland, for his outspoken and unabashed witness to the Catholic faith, especially in light of the recent events at Dodger stadium. Bishop Strickland has demonstrated the courage and the leadership we need from our shepherds to confront these demonic assaults against the Truth in our society and our churches today.Yes, and by all appearances the powers in the Vatican would seem to lend absolutely no support, at least as of this writing, for the Bishop of Tyler. At the very least the Vatican visit by the two Bishops smells of the typical shakedown given to any Bishop…Continue Reading

Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic . . . Liberal Authoritarianism

June 29, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic . . . Liberal Authoritarianism

By STEPHEN M. KRASON For some years now, things have been written about the increasing authoritarian attitudes and practice of American liberalism. Kim R. Holmes and James Kalb in recent years have written books about this. Holmes, who is a historian, says that even though liberalism through the twentieth century always made freedom of expression and speech a central concern, it is no longer the case. The only “truth” that liberalism embraces are liberal ideological positions. Kalb has written that liberalism’s present-day spokesmen view other — non-liberal — perspectives as an outright threat and a public danger.We have seen many examples of the authoritarian bent of liberalism. There was the IRS’s targeting of conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status a decade…Continue Reading

Hard To Believe But . . . Government Was Supposed To be Kept At The Margins Of Life

June 28, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Hard To Believe But . . . Government Was Supposed To be Kept At The Margins Of Life

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — The U.S. Founders wanted government to be at the margins of life, not at the center, author and commentator Tom Del Beccaro said on activist Charlie Kirk’s national radio program aired on June 21.Although that was a foundational belief for the establishment of this nation, it’s so far from the way government works today that it almost sounded startling.Radical Democrat Joe Biden and his government elite and their allies decide that one form of depravity or another is a new national mandate, and suddenly hundreds of millions of people in a country thousands of miles wide are expected to snap to obedience for what they know is wrong.That’s not how it was supposed to be,…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… Reflections On The Parable Of The Pearl

June 27, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on A Beacon Of Light… Reflections On The Parable Of The Pearl

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR. Today we return to our discussion of the parables of Jesus. I want to take a moment to remind us about the importance of the parables. Why did Jesus need to use parables? In Jesus’ ministry, it was likely that He would have encountered so many different people. These encounters would have included the disciples, the Pharisees, and large groups of people who may have been listening to Him for the very first time.Jesus had to engage this wide group of different people, the educated and ordinary, so He used the parables to engage them all, whomever He was speaking to. Through the parables Jesus revealed to them all the mystery of the Kingdom…Continue Reading

The Woke Game Of Baseball?

June 26, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on The Woke Game Of Baseball?

By DEACON MIKE MANNO I don’t know about you, but if you are like me you probably have had your fill of all this woke nonsense that is perverting our culture these days.Each day’s news roundup reports just how far this ideology has gone and while there does seem to be a bit of a backlash, corporation after corporation continues to pile-on the woke bandwagon with their rules about what you can and cannot speak unless it is pure unadulterated woke-speak, or an unconditional acceptance of that message.Perhaps Bud Light, Target, Kohl’s, and a few others are being caught up in this undertow — at least for now — but the question remains: How far will this go? We see,…Continue Reading

Shedding Light On The Galileo Affair

June 25, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Shedding Light On The Galileo Affair

By DONALD DeMARCO It will surprise many that the dispute between the Church and Galileo was grounded in Galileo’s stubborn insistence on being nonscientific. At the same time, the Church of Rome was holding firmly to scientific principles.It is not disputed that Galileo (1564-1642) was a great scientist. We cannot forget, however, that he was a human being and heir to personal traits that are common to members of that species. He was proud, stubborn, and not always fair in his dealings with others. He was not so bold and innovative, however, that he worked independently of his predecessors. He, like all scientists, as Sir Isaac Newton famously pointed out, stood on the shoulders of thinkers who came before him.At…Continue Reading

Politicians, Honor, And The Holy Grail

June 24, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Politicians, Honor, And The Holy Grail

By CHRISTOPHER MANION “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world,” in the words of St. John (1 John 2:16).Honor is among the most prized of goals, writes Aristotle. “Men seem to pursue honor,” he writes, “that they may believe themselves to be good. For instance, they seek to be honored by the wise, and by those among whom they are known, and for virtue: clearly then, in the opinion at least of these men, virtue is higher than honor.” (Nicomachean Ethics I, iii).Of course, the virtuous man, the spoudaios, is by definition honorable, and…Continue Reading

Mid-Summer Feasting . . . The Solemnity Of The Birth Of St. John The Baptist

June 23, 2023 Frontpage Comments Off on Mid-Summer Feasting . . . The Solemnity Of The Birth Of St. John The Baptist

By JENNIFER GREGORY MILLER (This text was originally published by CatholicCulture.org in 2014.) + + Merry Christmas! I know it’s not December, but June 24, Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, is often referred to as “Summer Christmas” because it is exactly six months from Christmas.The cult of St. John the Baptist, the Precursor of Christ is very ancient, which makes this such a multi-faceted feast both in the liturgy and traditions connected to the feast. To touch on a few highlights: A Birthday Celebration The only other births that are celebrated in the Church’s Liturgical Calendar are the birth of Jesus on Christmas, and the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8th. Jesus is…Continue Reading