Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

Leave it to Professor Ralph McInerny of the University of Notre Dame to put what happened into words. They are found here . His essay is nothing short of amazing...and prophetic. If the Obama invitation has stirred such passionately prayerful reaction from an heroic band of students, from alumni and Catholics across the country, and – mirabile dictu – from more than seventy bishops, it may prove to have been providential, an opportunity for Catholics to recognize that their house is indeed divided. Please read it in its entirety .

This is a story recounted by Professor McInerny on Notre Dame du Lac and Project Sycamore . This is a most interesting example of what dedicated alums can do... Here is a link to Project Sycamore . Notre Dame, Our Mother and Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

George Marlin writes in response to an article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . It is an eye-popping article and an excellent lesson in history.

The Catholic Thing has only been launched a short time, but it is proving to be an impressive forum for reasoned thought. Today, the famed writer, Ralph McInerny, has a brilliant essay . He says at one point: Justice Kennedy’s opinion in the Casey decision proclaimed that each of us has a constitutional right to define life, the universe, good or evil, as we wish, and any attempt to abridge that right has to be struck down. This is often called the “mystery” passage. There is nothing at all mysterious about. It is, of course, incoherent. Could there be a society in which some approved of murder and others condemned it as if this were merely a clash of free and equally tenable opinions? If there were, it could be called Godless Democracy and there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between it and Godless Communism. Need I suggest you read his essay ?

Robert Royal writes a powerful essay on Pope Benedict's trip to WYD and his seeming modus operandi . He states, "If JPII was a Shakespearean king, Benedict is a Mozart symphony." Here is just a highlight from his essay: Yet we see even more clearly after WYD2008 that Benedict has his own quiet and powerful way of truth telling. He virtually summed up his whole position during the welcoming ceremony at Bangaroo: “There are many today who claim that God should be left on the sidelines, and that religion and faith, while fine for individuals, should either be excluded from the public forum altogether or included only in the pursuit of limited pragmatic goals. This secularist vision seeks to explain human life and shape society with little or no reference to the Creator. It presents itself as neutral, impartial and inclusive of everyone. But in reality, like every ideology, secularism imposes a world-view. If God is irrelevant to public life, then society will be shaped i...

The Catholic Thing is a new online magazine that I will be quoting extensively. It has some great writers and will comment on Catholic thought in the public square (much like FIRST THINGS). Here is what the "e-magazine is about with a list of its writers . The post for today is on Marriage and the crisis engendered by those unwilling to defend it adequately . The writer is Hadley Aarkes, Ney Professor of Juriprudence at Amherst College. As always, his columns are "eye-opening."