Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 182

Divorce – A Form of Child Abuse

Joseph Pearce writes eloquently here on the breakdown of the family and the impact on children. Throughout the entirety of human history, the essential building block of society has been the family. Indeed, until very recently, the very purpose of marriage was inextricably connected to the family. Men and women got married with the expectation [Read More...]

Belgians Vote to Kill Children

Belgium already has one of the most aggressive euthanasia laws in the world, and now lawmakers in Belgium have extended permission for euthanasia to children. CNN reports here on a law that allows doctors to take active steps to euthanize older children who consent. Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002 for those in “constant and unbearable physical [Read More...]

Learning Through Lent

What are your plans for a holy Lent? Fr Barron is offering a free Lent course . Daily emails and video input can be yours from his Word on Fire ministry. See a video about the free Lent offering here. Go here to learn more and sign up for Fr Barron’s free Lenten Resource. If [Read More...]

Anglicans Prepare for Same Sex Weddings

London’s Daily Telegraph reports on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech to General Synod here.  The battle for women bishop is now over, and the progressives have won. The Church of England will have women bishops within the year. As soon as the door closes on that conflict, Archbishop Welby prepares his troops for the next [Read More...]

Is Pope John XXIV on the Throne of Peter?

Here is my latest article for Aleteia. It explores the allegation that, in the 2005 conclave, Archbishop Begoglio said if he had been elected he would have taken the name John XXIV. Did Pope Francis really intend to take the name John XXIV in homage to the pope who called the Second Vatican Council? In an [Read More...]

Churchy Entertainment in the Winter Storm

The Pun is Mightier Than the Sword

Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative website. It is my rationale for writing in a Chestertonian style. It seemed that a style that was deliberately delightful and teasingly torturous was a style that might at once both annoy and enlighten the audience. It was, if you like, the style of a playful [Read More...]

Mystery Mary Statue Weeps Oil

There’s another weeping Virgin Mary statue–this time in Israel. Huffington Post reports on the phenomenon here. What do we make of it? Well, weird things happen. In July 2012 I commented here on a statue of Mary in India that was weeping blood. So what’s going on? It’s simple. Reality is more flexible than we [Read More...]

Was Tolkien an Evangelist?

Last year I was in Oxford and had the privilege of meeting Priscilla Tolkien–J.R.R.Tolkien’s daughter. I commented on her father’s work and said I reckoned he was the best Catholic evangelist of the twentieth century. She asked why I thought that. “Because he kept alive through a work of imagination a Christian view of reality.” [Read More...]

Pope Mary and Pope Martha

Here is my latest article for Aleteia marking the anniversary of the resignation of Pope Benedict. Now at this crucial time in human history, the Church offers in these two living popes an image of the unity of prayer and action. Pope Emeritus Benedict may have stepped off the world stage, but he still wears [Read More...]