Think it’s tough to be a Catholic these days? Pilloried by the arts and media. Misunderstood by so-called intelligentsia. Politically disenfranchised. We seem a cultural minority under siege. But the
Christian communities in the first centuries of the Church faced these challenges and more—yet converted a pagan empire.
Many Catholics complain that the music at their local parish is deplorable.Are they just cranks with antiquarian and high-brow taste? No.There are specific and identifiable qualities to good congregational music, and most contemporary hymns just don’t make the grade. In this issue, we look at what makes music singable; next issue, we’ll look at the words we’re singing.
For Protestants who come to find sola scriptura insufficient to define true doctrine, the Orthodox church seems to offer an alternative that is more palatable than “going all the way” to Rome. But closer examination reveals an essential incoherence in Orthodoxy’s understanding of authority which leaves it unable to define adequately what is or is not infallible teaching. For that, it turns out,
requires Peter.
A much-lauded documentary film grimly prophesies doomsday: worldwide climatological disaster resulting from mankind’s waste and willful disregard for Mother Nature. Calls to “green” conversion are sounded, and the ecological faithful vow to save Earth at any cost. Is any of this compatible with Catholic belief? Yes: when it is rooted in respect for the human person.
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