Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 59

Oscar Wilde’s Deathbed Conversion

Gay icon and martyr figure Oscar Wilde converted to the Catholic faith on his deathbed. You can read the fascinating story here. In 1900, Wilde developed cerebral meningitis and became very sick. When it became clear he might die, his friend and apparent homosexual lover Robbie Ross who was with him called for a Catholic priest. When the priest [Read More...]

C.S.Lewis and Loving Muslims

  My latest article for National Catholic Register asks, “Loving Muslims? How Do I Do That?” It is a reminder of the document Nostra Aetate–on non Christian religions published fifty years ago today. C.S.Lewis comes into the equation with the story from The Last Battle–the last Narnia book. As usual, one of the best ways to [Read More...]

Visit Poland for the Year of Mercy

I invite you to join me for an exciting pilgrimage to Poland next April during the Year of Mercy. This is a wonderful pilgrimage to sites associated with Pope St John Paul the Great and St Faustina. We will be visiting all the holy sites and the shrines associated with them as well as the [Read More...]

Sanity, Sanctity and Sexuality

Catholics are often blamed for being obsessed with sex, and the ones who lay this charge are usually sex obsessed secularists. We are interested in sexuality however, because we believe that what we do with our bodies is connected with the destiny of our souls. This is because we believe the human body is not [Read More...]

Engaging Fr Martin

Fr James Martin SJ is an engaging priest. With helpful books on God’s  sense of humor and practical spirituality he has helped make Catholicism approachable for many people. However, he does seem to have some remarkable blind spots. In  an article published over at CNN he asks, Why are Catholics so Afraid of Change? Fr Martin [Read More...]

The Vicar on Lady Bishops

Guest blogger, The Rev’d Humphrey Blytherington is former Vicar of St Hilda’s, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth University. He completed his studies for the ministry at Latimer Hall, Durham. He is married to Daphne and enjoys home brewing, model railroading and was, until retirement, an avid member of the [Read More...]

Has the Synod Offered a Pathway to Destruction?

I have not read the final document from the synod on the family in full yet, but there are some conservative grumblings about the ambiguity of a couple of paragraphs. The document seems to encourage the resolution of second marriage issues with the use of the “internal forum”. This is a situation where the couple, [Read More...]

Marcus Grodi: Done Roamin’

My article for Aleteia this week is a profile of Marcus Grodi and the Coming Home Network Marcus Grodi’s pun for life could be “Done Roman” because when he was received into the Roman Catholic Church the former Protestant pastor had found his spiritual home and was finally “done roamin’.” Grodi was brought up in [Read More...]

Introducing Sister Bruce

OK. I know it sounds dumb, but I’ve always wanted to be a nun. You know what I mean? So when that Jenner guy decided to be a girl I says to myself, “What the heck! Go for it man!” Then when they made him “Woman of the Year” I just about choked on my [Read More...]

Huck and Pip: Innocents Abroad

My article for Imaginative Conservative this week is an essay on the tale of two orphans: Huck Finn an Pip from Dickens’ Great Expectations Both Pip and Huck are faced with similar difficulties. Pip is apprenticed to a blacksmith and dominated by his harpy of a sister, while Huck is trapped in the stifling atmosphere of [Read More...]