There exists no sharper illustration of present-day enfeeblement of the Jesuit temper than the difference between the ministries of John Corridan, S.J., the “waterfront priest” of the 1940’s, and today’s Robert VerEecke, S.J., the “dancing priest.” Fr. Corridan earned a significant place in labor history. Fr. VerEecke earned removal from the Church of St. Francis Xavier for making sexual overtures to a male parishioner. The diminution is tragic. And telling. In the slide from Corridan, a morally serious man, to VerEecke, a flâneur on ideological boulevards, we witness the unsteadiness of a Church listing toward the conceits of the age. Continue Reading

Confusion of Tongues: Language of Sin vs Bureaucracy

Maureen Mullarkey

November 23, 2018

To religious minds, the language of sin, its vocabulary and syntax, cuts closer to the heart of things than its secular replacement: the language of bureaucracy. In a religious lexicon, the word sin describes violation of the inalienable rights of the God Who commands. Bureauspeak, by contrast, is a secular rhetorical practice adept at describing violations of standard procedure. Or, if you prefer, offenses against decorum. The sinner says, “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” The bureau-rhetor says whatever is needed to minimize negative reaction to slippage among personnel or, perhaps, one’s own. Continue Reading

McCarrick’s Seminarians

Maureen Mullarkey

November 5, 2018

Ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick interests me less than the seminarians who kept mum for so many years. The saga of this man is far larger than the story of one libertine prelate. The ugly dimensions of the scandal lie in the conspiracy of silence, a de facto collusion that permitted a known sexual predator—a sociopath—to rise through the ranks of Church nomenklatura. Set aside, if you can, McCarrick’s alleged abuse of an eleven year old boy. That is of a different order of magnitude than snuggling with grown seminarians. Continue Reading

The Lord’s Prayer: Guardini vs Bergoglio

Maureen Mullarkey

December 13, 2017

Did The Lord’s Prayer need revision? Have we had it wrong all these centuries? Pope Francis thinks so. He announced last week that he is blue-penciling the Our Father. By Francis’ lights, that ancient Matthean phrase “Lead us not into temptation” needs correction. It has been misleading from the get-go. The wording ought to go more like like this: “do not let us fall into temptation.” Francis explained:

It is I who fall, it is not God who throws me into temptation and then sees how I fell.

Notes on Amoris Laititia & Filial Correction

Maureen Mullarkey

October 10, 2017

Heresy-spotting is not my forte. I have no inclination or talent for it. But the word hangs heavy in the air these days. It is impossible to ignore it. Ballots went out as soon as Amoris Laetitia hit the stands: “Does the apostolic exhortation propagate heresy? Check the box marked Yes or No. Either way, might any other words, deeds, or omissions by the Supreme Pontiff constitute encouragement of heresy? Again, check the box marked Yes or No.” The alternatives have been dueling for two years. Continue Reading

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St. Xavier’s: From the Waterfront Priest to the Dancing Priest

Confusion of Tongues: Language of Sin vs Bureaucracy

McCarrick’s Seminarians

The Lord’s Prayer: Guardini vs Bergoglio

Notes on Amoris Laititia & Filial Correction

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