Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 122

Todd Unctuous on the Synod of Bishops

Guest blogger Todd Unctuous is top commentator for MSM. With a degree in Media Studies from Scranton Community College, Todd writes for many papers and websites, and is known for his incisive writing, objective reporting and razor sharp comment. It has been interesting over the last two weeks to see the celibate old white men [Read More...]

A Jewel on the Buckle of the Bible Belt

  My article this week for Imaginative Conservative website features a surprising oddity of the American South–the Museum and Art Gallery at Bob Jones University. The American South is full of obscure oddities, unexpected eccentricities and disconcerting delights. Here the farmhouse of an eccentric peacock loving novelist, there the country home of a homespun poet. [Read More...]

Beautiful Balance in the Pope’s Final Speech to the Synod

Here are excerpts from the Pope’s final address to the synod with my observations in red. Read the whole speech here. And it has been “a journey” – and like every journey there were moments of running fast, as if wanting to conquer time and reach the goal as soon as possible; other moments of fatigue, [Read More...]

Wrangling in Rome – What Good is It?

What good has come from all the bishops boxing–all the wrangling in Rome? Now that the Synod of Bishops has ended with a beautiful, but bland final message from the bishops, Damian Thompson reports on the week’s drama here at the Spectator. ‘Thanks be to God’, as we Catholic children used to say with heartfelt enthusiasm [Read More...]

The “Warm Welcome” I’ve Received From Catholics

It has been interesting to see the comments that have been posted at the CRUX website and elsewhere about my article this week asking the Holy Father to clearly defend and define Catholic teaching–a remark, which seems pretty much in line with the wishes of a majority of the bishops at the synod. The comments [Read More...]

Allen on Kasper on the Africans

John Allen springboards in this article from the hoo-ha over Cardinal Kasper’s anti-African comments to Edward Pentin to teach us more about the influence of Africans on the Vatican and what the future church looks like: it’s African. If someone were to write a book about the 2014 Synod of Bishops on the family, a [Read More...]

Take Up Your Crux

My article published previously this week at Crisis Magazine is now re-published at Boston Globe’s Crux website. The ambition of the editors at Crux is simple. John Allen described American Catholicism as being “tribalistic” In other words, the liberals have their colleges, newspapers, publishing houses, bloggers, magazines and celebrities and likewise the conservatives. American Catholics [Read More...]

Cardinal Kasper Digs His Hole Deeper

There is more coverage tonight of Cardinal Kasper’s racist gaffe. Over here at First Things Matthew Schmitz reports that Cardinal Kasper denies his offensive remarks about fellow Catholics in Africa. He said, “I am appalled. I have never spoken this way about Africans and I never would.” Problem is, Edward Pentin, identifying himself as working for [Read More...]

Is It OK to Criticize the Pope?

A little tug of war has developed My article this week at Crisis Magazine has brought on the largest flood of emails and comments of anything I have written. In it I gently spoke my mind about the role of the Holy Father from the viewpoint of a parish priest. You can read the article [Read More...]

FaithWorks! 36

My weekly newsletter on the practical practice of the Catholic faith is published today. Go here as I continue a series on the Seven Sacraments of the church.