Category: Current Issues

Robert Mixa is the Education Fellow of the Word on Fire Institute. He received his M.T.S. in Biotechnology and Ethics from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. He and his wife live in Dallas, TX. You can read more of his thoughts, reviews, and interviews at RobertMixa.com. Aesthetic education matters. Noble art cultivates noble souls. Until recently, most civilizations have understood this, encouraging educators to introduce the youth to art, beauty, and good taste. This is what is known as an “aesthetic education.” But how many educators do this today? When taste has been reduced to mere preference—wherein the distinction between …

Reverend 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 is a salutary moment for people on both sides of the aisle to engage in a sincere examination of conscience: Have I weaponized the Sacred Liturgy, using it for ideological purposes, rather than for the glory of the Triune God? As we approach the month’s mind marker of Traditionis Custodes, and with the benefit of literally hundreds of articles produced, including my own reflection here at CWR within …

By Rachel Hoover Rachel Hoover is a technical writer by day and a critic and essayist for several Catholic publications in the early evening. She holds a B.A. from Christendom College and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. The tract in the pre-1970 Mass of the Common of the Blessed Virgin begins: “Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, thou alone hast destroyed all heresies. Who didst believe the words of the Archangel Gabriel.” Why is Our Lady the destroyer—or Exterminatrix—of all heresies? Because she believed the words of the Archangel Gabriel; her fiat of absolute faith in God is enough to overturn every heretical un-belief the rest …

By Thomas Griffin – Thomas Griffin teaches apologetics in the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island. Read more at www.EmptyTombProject.org. The American Medical Association House of Delegates recently released a statement calling for sex to be removed as a legal designation from birth certificates. Sandra Fryhofer, the chair of the board of the AMA, stated: “Designating sex on birth certificates as male or female, and making that information available on the public portion, perpetuates a view that sex designation is permanent and fails to recognize the medical spectrum of gender identity.” The AMA continued its statement calling for sex …

By Joseph Pearce Joseph Pearce is a senior contributor to Crisis. He is director of book publishing at the Augustine Institute, editor of the St. Austin Review, and series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions. An acclaimed biographer and literary scholar, his latest book is Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know (Augustine Institute, 2019). His website is jpearce.co. The Merchant of Venice is perhaps the greatest and indubitably the most controversial of Shakespeare’s comedies. It has been misunderstood and misconstrued to such a degree, however, that it is often seen as a tragedy, not a comedy. Such is the critical blindness of the age in which we find …

By Christina Debusschere Christina Debusschere is a wife and mother from Alberta, Canada. After being homeschooled K-12, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Education from the Concordia University of Edmonton. She blogs with her husband at www.theromanticcatholic.wordpress.com. Recently, a piece that I wrote concerning Communion on the tongue was published by Crisis Magazine, and this post is a sequel to good news. Effective July 1st, permission was granted for Catholics in our archdiocese to once again receive Communion on the tongue. Many of us breathed a collective sigh of relief and thanked God. This year has been long without …

Christopher R. Altieri is a journalist, editor, and author of three books. He is contributing editor to Catholic World Report At the very least, we want to be able to entrust our care and that of our loved ones to people who are not on the fence about whether life is a basic and irreducible good. Any genuinely comprehensive review of the case of Alfie Evans would require many months and significant resources, not to mention the willingness of his parents, attorneys, doctors, and judges to sit for extended interviews. Our desire to know is powerful, as is our desire to blame. …

Ben Reinhard is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at Christendom College. He holds a B.A. from Purdue, as well as an M.M.S and Ph.D from the University of Notre Dame. As Chesterton observed long ago, “the modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad” – and mad virtues are far more dangerous than vices. July 29, 2021 Ben Reinhard The Dispatch 15Print In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis’s senior devil reminds his protégé that every age and every culture has its characteristic vices and virtues. It is the devil’s job to confuse men as to what those virtues actually are: We …