Isn’t this getting a little old?

Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice in the US and abroad (though lately, anti-semitism among the elites has been making a stylish comeback). Be as offensive as you like; trash our stand on abortion, same sex marriages, remarriage after divorce, women in the priesthood, the real presence, purgatory, etc., and you’ll have elites and academicsContinue reading “Isn’t this getting a little old?”

Bishop Martin’s moves against TLM presenting real challenge to Pope Leo

From the National Catholic Register: Charlotte Liturgy Controversy Heats Up After Bishop’s Proposed Ban of Latin, Altar Rails Leaked *** Outcry over proposed norms in the North Carolina diocese is rising to international attention, as it represents the first major liturgical dispute during the reign of Pope Leo XIV. Controversy in a North Carolina dioceseContinue reading “Bishop Martin’s moves against TLM presenting real challenge to Pope Leo”

Egypt caves to extremist demands

[Note: There is ambiguity about the accuracy of the post below. Both the governments of Egypt and Greece, as well as the monks, are insisting it is not true. Still, reliable news sources, including The Times of London, are reporting that the Egyptian government’s liquidation of St. Catherine’s Monastery is still a possibility, although it has not yetContinue reading “Egypt caves to extremist demands”

Remembering Screwtape

This on the mark birthday card, from the Hallmark division Faithfully Funny, contains an obvious reference, though with no mention of it, to C. S. Lewis’s concept of “gluttony of delicacy,” a tool of the devil, from his classic, The Screwtape Letters. Though Screwtape was published in 1942, “gluttony of delicacy” is still very much withContinue reading “Remembering Screwtape”

Saying goodbye to the priceless accessory of a bankrupt institution

Bickerstaff woke up this morning with a solemn hymn tune in his head, one he had not heard or sung in ages. The hymn was a combination of two tunes, St Patrick and Deirdre, but is better known by its first line, I bind unto myself this day (only organists and scholars refer to hymns by theirContinue reading “Saying goodbye to the priceless accessory of a bankrupt institution”

Of all the unmitigated gall or, the pot calling the kettle black.

From the NY Post: Jake Tapper admits Democratic cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline may be ‘worse than Watergate’ *** The cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s mental decline might be a bigger scandal than Watergate, CNN host Jake Tapper acknowledged Monday. “Acknowledged.” Ha! No admission from Tapper that he led the way, not only inContinue reading “Of all the unmitigated gall or, the pot calling the kettle black.”

Post-Missam Novus Ordo gripes, a continuing Sunday series

To list them all in one post would encourage the reader to click somewhere else, so only a few bight-sized bits at a time. Primo. Ex-homiliae chit-chat: if it cannot be incorporated into the homily, we can live without it. Tace! Secundo. Applause during Mass: few things are more irksome, especially when Father requests it.Continue reading “Post-Missam Novus Ordo gripes, a continuing Sunday series”

Trump brutally contradicts SA President Ramaphosa with video

At a meeting recently with President Trump in the White House, South African President Ramaphosa vehemently denied white South Africans were being persecuted and murdered. After hearing enough, Trump ran a video that clearly showed otherwise. Bickerstaff, despite his increasingly growing number of years, cannot recall a president so utterly lacking in timidity as President Trump.Continue reading “Trump brutally contradicts SA President Ramaphosa with video”