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Trahison Des Clercs

August 7, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on Trahison Des Clercs

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK There is a long string of words and phrases I used to come across quite often, but seldom see anymore now that William F. Buckley is no longer with us. I have in mind terms such as a fortiori, supererogatory, chiliastic, mutatis mutandis, immanentize the eschaton, and quod licet Iovi non licet bovi. (Look them up: They are effective figures of speech, except for the fact that hardly anyone will know what you mean if you use them. That never bothered Buckley. He thought it a valuable teachable moment when you had to get out your dictionary.) Another of Buckley’s favorites was “trahison des clercs,” a phrase with its roots in a 1927 book with that…Continue Reading

Revisiting The Restoration Of The Jesuits

August 6, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on Revisiting The Restoration Of The Jesuits

By RAY CAVANAUGH Many assume that Jesuits have existed without much official opposition. Such has not been the case. This August 7 will mark the 200th anniversary of the issuing of the papal bull, Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum, which restored the Jesuit power that had been suppressed for some 41 years. The post-Restoration decades would see a mighty rebound, as Jesuit institutions — including many in the U.S. — began to flourish. Established in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola, the Society of Jesus consisted of members known as Jesuits who each desired “to serve as a soldier of God.” By the 1750s, there were over 20,000 Jesuits across the world. Aside from converting countless souls to Catholicism, they were an intellectual…Continue Reading

“One’s Heart Can Sink”. . . Watching What Has Happened To People’s Lives In Texas

August 5, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on “One’s Heart Can Sink”. . . Watching What Has Happened To People’s Lives In Texas

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — Just back from a trip to McAllen, Texas, a longtime resident along the Southwest border told The Wanderer that she was pleased with a recent statement concerning Central America by an official of the U.S. Catholic bishops. However, she added, the bishops need to remember the importance of the rule of law that’s flouted by the illegal immigrants they defend. She provided this newspaper with observations of life from her trip. McAllen, located on the southern tip of Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, has been in recent news coverage because of the surge of illegal aliens into the Lone Star State. The woman, who asked not to be identified because of border-security concerns, is…Continue Reading

Hatred For Jews?

August 4, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on Hatred For Jews?

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK American conservatives have been banishing irresponsible right-wingers from their ranks since the late 1950s, when William F. Buckley took an uncompromising stance toward the John Birch Society. Buckley denounced the Birch Society’s founder Robert Welch as “idiotic” and “paranoid.” Welch had called President Dwight D. Eisenhower a “conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist conspiracy” and held the U.S. government to be “under operational control of the Communist Party.” Buckley’s condemnation worked. Mainstream conservatives distanced themselves from the Birch Society. The motive for such a public denunciation of people and groups allied to us politically can be one of two things: a desire to not to be linked publicly with a person or group that we find irresponsible…Continue Reading

A GOP Ultimatum to Vlad

August 3, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on A GOP Ultimatum to Vlad

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN With the party united, the odds are now at least even that the GOP will not only hold the House but also capture the Senate in November. But before traditional conservatives cheer that prospect, they might take a closer look at the foreign policy that a Republican Senate would seek to impose upon the nation. Specifically, they should spend time reading S. 2277, the “Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014,” introduced by Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) on May 1, and endorsed by half of the Senate’s GOP caucus. As ranking Republican on the foreign relations committee, Corker is in line to become chairman, should the GOP take the Senate. That makes this proposal a gravely…Continue Reading

But Could More Details Be Useful? . . . Pope Calls For Development In Immigrants’ Home Countries

August 2, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on But Could More Details Be Useful? . . . Pope Calls For Development In Immigrants’ Home Countries

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — Being Pope is sort of like being the attentive guardian of more than one billion family members in faith. Which is part of a Pope’s job description. When making observations broadly enough to apply to all the family, the Pope probably can’t get into details about this tribe or that nation or some historical grouping. However, when it’s appropriate for him to focus a statement more narrowly, the details should be tailored to take into account the circumstances. Is it wrong for the government to deprive a family of their father working to support it? Broadly, of course. Is it wrong for the government to imprison a family’s father who was properly convicted of murdering five…Continue Reading

When The Priesthood Is Compromised, So Is The Truth

August 1, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on When The Priesthood Is Compromised, So Is The Truth

By FR. JEROME C. ROMANOWSKI (Editor’s Note: Fr. Romanowski is a priest of the Diocese of Camden, N.J. He wrote the following essay to celebrate his 50 years in the priesthood.) +    +    + We offer thanks to God for calling us to the priesthood. We remember our Lord, whose priesthood we live in and are therefore able to bring the saving waters of salvation to the world. We cannot forget the Blessed Mother of Priests and all of the priests who have helped us to attain this exalted state in the Church. Also, our parents and brothers and sisters for their prayers and support. We thank the saintly Successors of St. Peter who have ruled the Church during these…Continue Reading

Teaching The Political Spectrum

July 31, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on Teaching The Political Spectrum

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK It varies from state to state and from school to school, but it is usually somewhere around ninth or tenth grade that students are introduced to the concept of the “political spectrum”: the difference between left-wing and right-wing, between conservative and liberal, radical and reactionary. It is a necessary lesson: Students need to have a basic understanding of what these terms mean when they listen to politicians and pundits on the nightly news use them to discuss the issues of the day. But it is a lesson that can confuse students. Parents and teachers need to be prepared to help them work their way through the maze. For most high school students, a basic explanation of…Continue Reading

The Church Teaches Forum . . . Confronts Contraception And The Culture Of Death

July 30, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on The Church Teaches Forum . . . Confronts Contraception And The Culture Of Death

By JAMES LIKOUDIS LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Leading members of the hierarchy gave a remarkable witness to the Church’s teaching on marriage and family with outstanding addresses at the annual Church Teaches Forum, held here on July 18-19.Archbishop Salvatore Cordil­eone of San Francisco, chair of the Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Mar­riage, spoke at the opening ban­quet on “Marriage: Unique for a Reason” and explained the efforts of the U.S. bishops to deal with the devilish attacks on marriage and family life, now affecting all three branches of government and at all levels. The “Evil One” has undermined in the social consciousness of peo­ple conviction about the three goods of marriage, he explained: perma­nence of the marriage bond; fidelity;…Continue Reading

Mexican-American Says . . . Obama Uses Hamas-Style Manipulation Of Minors

July 29, 2014 Frontpage Comments Off on Mexican-American Says . . . Obama Uses Hamas-Style Manipulation Of Minors

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — The surge in illegal-immigrant minors entering the United States shows an “unprecedented strategy” by Barack Obama that’s “almost like Hamas, using children as bait, as shields for political attacks,” a Mexican-American businessman told The Wanderer after making a trip south of the border. The Latino minors sometimes are described in news media as facing serious dangers and even death on their way to the United States. Reymundo Torres, who’s also president of the Arizona Latino Republican Association, drew the comparison with the Mideast terrorist organization during an interview just after he returned from a two-night business trip to Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, the Mexican state just south of Arizona. Torres said that neither he…Continue Reading