Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 162

England With Fr DL and Joseph Pearce

Some time ago I blogged about taking a hike with my friend Joseph Pearce and the lively conversation we always have about things Catholic, literary, English and American A commenter said, “Gee, I wish I could be there!” You can! You can! Not just having a hike with us, but imagine spending ten days touring [Read More...]

Pregnant Christian Woman on Islamic Death Row

London’s Daily Telegraph reports here on the plight of Meriam Ibrahim–a Sudanese Christian woman who is pregnant and has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam. She is being held in a Sudanese jail along with her infant son. An eight-months pregnant woman is being kept shackled to the wall of her cell as she [Read More...]

Super Pope Dodges Bullets

Here is my latest article for Aleteia in which I wonder why Pope Francis wants to dodge the bullets on his visit to the Holy Land Pope St. John Paul II didn’t dodge a bullet completely on May 13, 1981, but he attributed his survival to the miraculous intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Is [Read More...]

Why the Gays are Winning

Those who believe in traditional marriage had better get used to it. We’ve lost this battle in the culture wars. The homosexualists have succeeded in framing their situation as a struggle. Increasingly their gay pride will be seen as a struggle for equal rights and those who oppose their proclivities will be branded as racists [Read More...]

Can You Obey God and Disobey the Church?

In this article over at National Catholic Reporter, Jamie Manson expresses what she feels is the core clash between the sisters of LCWR and the pope: Pope Francis believes women religious should continue to do the work of the church while remaining obedient to the voice of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The women religious of [Read More...]

Todd Unctuous on the LCWR

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. One year ago I wrote in this column that I was surprised and delighted at the [Read More...]

No Salvation Outside the Church?

It’s pretty clear in today’s gospel isn’t it? Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This sounds clear: “Jesus is the only way to God.” When you combine this with the teaching in the third chapter of John’s gospel the message is [Read More...]

Real Life Superheroes

I first met Stratford Caldecott when I lived in England. We were both writing Catholic-Inklings type stuff, Strat lived and worked in Oxford so we naturally got together and worked on projects. He advised me on some books. I wrote some articles for his journals. He contributed to my first book of conversion stories The [Read More...]

Only the Penitent Man Shall Pass

There’s that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in which Indy has to go through the tunnel in the cave to finally find the Holy Grail. To do so he has to pass three trials. The first one is that whirling blades unexpectedly fly from the walls to decapitate the victim. The clue to get [Read More...]

St Matthias and Apostolic Succession

We don’t know much about St Matthias except that one of the first things Peter does in the Acts of the Apostles is to get the others together to select a successor to Judas. Thus the foundation of what we know as “apostolic succession” is established as one of the foundational acts of the Apostles [Read More...]