Classical education provides students with exactly the analytical tools that they need—logic, philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, history—to both grasp and critique the great books, taking both their original context and their modern significance into account.
Faith and Reason
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
We cannot separate the question of women’s ordination from the church’s history of sexism
While at the surface the question about women’s ordination has been asked and answered, rarely has it been asked in this new context where women’s full human dignity is unreservedly affirmed and defended.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Women in the College of Cardinals: A modest proposal for a more equal (and prophetic) church
More pressing than the question of whether women can be ordained to the priesthood is the reality that clericalism and sexism have created and sustained a system in which women are treated as second-class citizens.
Posted inFaith and Reason, Politics & Society
After 9/11 and Afghanistan, does just war theory have a place in Catholic thought?
The best argument against just war theory’s continuing place in Catholic teaching may not be that it is necessarily wrong in theory, but that it misunderstands the realities of war and peace today.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Why Pope Francis’ comments on the Torah were hurtful to his Jewish friends
The catechesis that Pope Francis offered in August is in direct and explicit contradiction to the idea that supersessionism has itself been superseded.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
What does Catholic theology tell us about vaccine mandates? It’s not black and white.
The Catholic Church’s ethical tradition gives us some navigational aids in traversing the difficult terrain of mask mandates and vaccine requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Why should the church reach out to L.G.B.T.Q. people? Some shocking statistics can answer that.
These statistics should be enough to make us want to undergo a metanoia, a change of mind and heart, and make us ask why our church is not only not a welcoming place to L.G.B.T.Q. people, but actively unwelcoming.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
What would St. Ignatius say to our political leaders during these turbulent times?
Ignatian discernment might help our contemporary leaders see where they are being falsely led and where the truth might be.
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Bishops’ meetings won’t heal the U.S. church. We need a Fourth Plenary Council involving all Catholics.
Given all the challenges facing the Catholic Church in our country, we are far overdue for a moment in which the bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful of our country can discern together how to be the people of God in our time and place.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Forget Plato’s philosopher-kings. We need philosopher folks.
What if instead of a few philosopher-kings magnanimously steering the unruly mob, we focused on building a democracy full of philosopher folks?