Catholic Church

By George Weigel, First Things - But in the Wild West of the Internet blogosphere… as in Twitter’s playpen of snark, there is little room for serious social and political analysis these days, much less serious, theologically-informed social and political analysis. And thanks to click-bait bloggers and incontinent tweeters, some serious damage is currently being done to authentic Catholic social doctrine, which some misidentify with a new authoritarianism and others warp by bending to the progressive cause of the day.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - There is a Christian hymn, written in the 1940s during World War II, that says, “In times like these, you need a Savior. In times like these, you need an anchor. Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.”… There are very few faithful Catholics who are not shocked and dismayed by the rapidity of decline into confusion (sexual and otherwise) of a culture once described as Judeo-Christian. Whatever our sectarian differences of the past… there was at least basic agreement on the fundamentals of biblical morality and the authority of the Word of God. Most of this is gone—and it has gone quickly. Consider some of the things going on in the world today….

By Stacy A. Trasancos, National Catholic Register - Words.. are much more fluid than numbers, which are precise. A trick in rhetoric, then, is to use words in an intentionally ambiguous way to conjure up mental images that sway the mind. It is always worth a critical examination of the language of slogans — especially when innocent human life hangs on the true meaning of every word… Of all creatures, humans can know and be known, love and be loved — we can belong. “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons” (CCC, 357).