Conscience and Appropriate Dress at Mass

Should parishes have a dress code for holy Mass? No, I don’t think so. I rarely see anyone I think is inappropriately dressed at Mass, even in the summer in a church that has no air conditioning. A dress code, … Continue reading

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What Pope Francis meant by Irreversible Liturgical Reform

First, let’s consider what Pope Francis actually said, as reported by Vatican Radio: The liturgical reform, he said, did not “flourish suddenly,” but was the result of a long preparation. It was brought to maturity by the Second Vatican Council … Continue reading

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A Child Pops A Balloon

I am nearly certain that conservative Catholics will “win” on the Amoris Laetitia controversy. Eventually, probably under the successor to Pope Francis, they will succeed in obtaining, from the Holy See, a clear discipline that forbids the divorced and remarried … Continue reading

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Lots to Say about the Formal Correction

1. Formal Correction equals Formal Schism It’s like watching a Rube Goldberg device. Events have already been set in motion. Lots of individual things have to happen next, one after another. But the end result is linear and relatively certain. … Continue reading

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A Canon Lawyer radically revises Humanae Vitae

Over at In the Light of the Law: A Canon Lawyer’s Blog, Dr. Ed Peters has a post titled About that ‘Humanae vitae’ rumor (July 11, 2017). And what he says about Humanae Vitae is perplexing, arrogant, false, self-contradictory, and … Continue reading

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Abortifacient contraception for a Medical Purpose

Can a Catholic married couple morally use abortifacient contraception (the birth control pill) for a medical purpose, while remaining sexually active. No, certainly not. And when we apply the principle of double effect to the question of using abortifacient contraception … Continue reading

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Contraception and Marriage: if it were true

A loose-knit group of Catholic commentators has decided to proclaim a radical revision to the teaching of the Magisterium on contraception: the claim that contraception is only intrinsically evil when used by a married couple. What happens when contraception is … Continue reading

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Intrinsic Evil, Heresy, and Excommunication

Many conservative Catholics today are just as much “cafeteria Catholics” as the liberals they criticize. They have their own belief system, which (for many, but not all of them) is substantially different from Catholic Christianity as taught by the Church. … Continue reading

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Most Catholics have rejected the Dogma of Intrinsic Evil

Reactions to the articles by deacon Russell and myself on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki vary. What surprises me is the total absence of any understanding of the magisterial teaching on intrinsic evil. The atomic bombings are condemned by … Continue reading

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A Catholic Deacon justified Mass Murder

and no one noticed or cared. The details are in my previous post, Response to Deacon Jim Russell on Combatants and Double Effect. Deacon Russell proposes that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can possibly be justified by the … Continue reading

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Response to Deacon Jim Russell on Combatants and Double Effect

Deacon Jim Russell wrote an article, titled Combatants, Non-Combatants, and Double Effect, published August 10, 2017 at Crisis Magazine. The article is one of the worst pieces of Catholic moral theology I have ever read. It contains several serious errors … Continue reading

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I Just Read One of the Worst Articles of Moral Theology Ever

I just read a disgusting perverse article of badly mangled Catholic moral theology, in which the author, a deacon, justifies the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that struck countless innocent victims, sowing death on an unheard of scale. The article … Continue reading

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