Chivalry, Courtesy, Honor, and Merciful to the Absurd

Chivalry, Courtesy, Honor, and Merciful to the Absurd

It may not be long before “Ladies and Gentlemen” ceases to start a speech, as the result of blurring the distinction between man and gentleman, and woman and lady. We may not hear at banquets, “Gentlemen, charge your glasses,” or understand the Victorian-era ballad: “My mother was a lady like yours, you will allow.” Putting…

Jaw-dropping absurdity… and worse

Jaw-dropping absurdity… and worse

Life in New York City can be hard for anyone who has difficulty accommodating paradoxes. For instance, the same City Council that has just banned the sale of foie gras on the grounds that it involves cruelty to force-fed geese, previously made New York the first city to pay mothers from other states to come…

What Cardinal Newman can teach the modern world about freedom of conscience

What Cardinal Newman can teach the modern world about freedom of conscience

CNA—The writings of newly-canonized St. John Henry Newman offer important reflections for contemporary society on freedom of conscience and the duty to search for truth, said a leading figure in international religious freedom. “Newman prefigured the Church’s 1965 Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae,” said Thomas Farr, president of the Religious Freedom Institute. Farr, who…

Things You Didn’t Know about St. John Henry Newman

Things You Didn’t Know about St. John Henry Newman

Last week’s canonization of Saint John Henry Newman will have universal influences that I trust will include our own parish. It should be remembered that his achievements, for the most part, hardly seemed successful at the time. He might even be called a patron saint of the disappointed. Newman was so nervous in his university…