Science Is Dead, Long Live Politics

In 2020 I noted “The Sad Death of A Once Great Magazine” as Scientific American did what no self-respecting science magazine should do – endorse a presidential candidate.  I concluded “Specialty journalism is officially dead – consumed by…

Our Lady of this particular place

Fr. Raymond J.de Souza, First Things Friday, December 12, 2025 Marian feasts are among the most popular in the Church. So, it was a bit unusual when the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a “doctrinal note” last month on…

Pope Leo XIV: Memento mori

Isabella H. de Carvalho, Vatican News Friday, December 12, 2025 During his recent General Audience, Pope Leo XIV spoke about existential questions of how human beings view death and invited us to ponder on the end of life and discover the power…

Rome and the Church in the United States

In a conversation with the great historian John Tracy Ellis, Baltimore’s Archbishop Michael J. Curley, who had had his share of tussles with the Vatican, once blurted out, “Rome will use you, abuse you, and then throw you away!” It was an…

Two Corrections for the Week

As an intellectual pharisee, I acknowledge that I’m smarter than everyone else (after all, I’m a philosopher!). Like Aristotle’s unchanging, eternal Prime Mover, the only suitable activity for me is contemplating my own excellence in my…