About Filip Mazurczak 55 ArticlesFilip Mazurczak is a journalist, translator, and historian. His writing has appeared in the National Catholic Register, First Things, Tygodnik Powszechny, and other publications. While Argentina legalized abortion on demand until fourteen weeks after gestation and the United States has inaugurated what will unquestionably be a very pro-abortion presidency, Poland has bucked the international pro-abortion trend as its Constitutional Court has declared abortion in the case of “fetal malformation” unconstitutional. Poles encouraged by this victory cannot wallow in complacent satisfaction, however. Poland’s government must make haste in increasing state support for Poles with disabilities, while the Church and pro-life …
Wisconsin Supreme Court kills Gov. Evers’ mask mandate
About Joseph M. Hanneman 58 ArticlesJoseph M. Hanneman writes from Madison, Wisconsin. MADISON, Wisconsin — The pendulum of statewide political power swung back toward the fulcrum on Wednesday when the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Gov. Tony Evers’ repeated use of emergency declarations to control the COVID-19 pandemic was illegal, thus ending the statewide face-mask mandate. The ruling in Jeré Fabick vs. Tony Evers was the latest salvo in a running battle between the Democrat governor, whose COVID-19 mitigation strategy relies heavily on executive mandates, and Republican lawmakers, who have not only refused to approve Evers’ emergencies, but voted in early February to …
Epilogue: The Commandments as the path to joy
About Peter M.J. Stravinskas 189 ArticlesReverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas is the editor of The Catholic Response, and the author of over 500 articles for numerous Catholic publications, as well as several books, including The Catholic Church and the Bible and Understanding the Sacraments. This Lenten series began by urging the reader to a deeper love of the Commandments by putting on the mind of a devout Jew. That will be even more necessary now if our present reflection is to make any sense. The biblical story of Creation bears a striking resemblance to many pagan versions of the same event, with one notable difference. The Hebrew account …
True Patriotism in a Marxist Wasteland
By Kennedy Hall Kennedy Hall is the author of two books. He is married with four children and lives in Ontario, Canada. His work can be found at kennedyhall.ca. This past Christmas Eve, I sat with my wife, sister and brother in-law, and my four small children in a small elementary school gymnasium. We sat on old foldout chairs made of plastic in groupings of seats that were set at least six feet from the next grouping. When we knelt, we knelt on the hard, tile floor. This was our setting for Midnight Mass, due to the government-imposed lockdown restrictions. I am blessed …
Does the Church No Longer Defend the Deposit of Faith?
By Regis Martin Regis Martin is Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned a licentiate and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Martin is the author of a number of books, including Still Point: Loss, Longing, and Our Search for God (2012) and The Beggar’s Banquet (Emmaus Road). His most recent book, also published by Emmaus Road, is called Witness to Wonder: The World of Catholic Sacrament. He resides in Steubenville, Ohio, with his wife and ten children. When I first heard …
Contraception and Wet-Blanket Ecumenism
By Jerome German Jerome German is a retired manufacturing engineer, father of eleven, and grandfather of a multitude. His parochial activities have included music ministry, faith formation, and spiritual direction/talks for men’s retreats. Before retirement, Jerry’s writing was largely in the technical realm and he is a late-bloomer to writing for faith formation. The Wisconsinite and his wife spend summers in Wisconsin and winter on the Riviera Maya where they own a small vacation rental business. I was just a kid when the Second Vatican Council was brewing. It was called an ecumenical council; that is, a council meant to be …
The Pornification of Society
By Auguste Meyrat Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher and department chair in north Texas. He has a BA in Arts and Humanities from University of Texas at Dallas and an MA in Humanities from the University of Dallas In those periodic moments where public discourse centers on the topic of pornography, it is always put in terms of the individual. There is abundant science behind pornography consumption, showing its effects on the brain and one’s reproductive health as well as its addictiveness. Many critics will also point out how constant stimulation of pornographic content warps a person’s view of sex and other people. …
Should Scripture Be More Trans-Friendly?
By Donald DeMarco Donald DeMarco is a professor emeritus of Saint Jerome’s University and an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. He is a regular columnist for the Saint Austin Review and the author, most recently, of Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Search for Understanding. The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (U.K.) have issued a new set of guidelines that introduces an assortment of “trans-friendly” terms. The concern is to avoid offending people who have been transgendered by insisting that there is such a thing as distinct sexes. The guidelines instruct doctors, nurses, and midwives to use gender-neutral terms. Thus, “chestfeeding” should …
The Betrayed Church
By Eric Sammons Eric Sammons is the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine. His upcoming book Deadly Indifference (May 2021) examines the rise of religious indifference and how it has led the Church to lose her missionary zeal. Today is the Wednesday of Holy Week, also known as Spy Wednesday, when we remember the most infamous act of betrayal in human history: Judas agreeing to deliver Christ to His enemies for 30 pieces of silver. This act of betrayal is still shocking to the Christian; we cannot imagine how an apostle, so close to Christ, could betray Him. Yet today the Body of Christ, the Church, …
The Threat of Christianity
By Regis Nicoll Regis Nicoll is a retired nuclear engineer and a fellow of the Colson Center who writes commentary on faith and culture. He is the author of Why There Is a God: And Why It Matters. Some time back, I was engaged in an online forum with some religious skeptics. Under discussion were the usual: the existence of God, the divinity of Jesus, evidence for the resurrection, and so on. For the most part, the participants were civil and without the animus that has been far too typical of these exchanges. After one of the discussions was gaveled, a person …