Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory celebrates Mass Aug. 20, 2017, in the Catholic Center at the University of Georgia in Athens. (CNS/Georgia Bulletin/Michael Alexander)
At First Things, Fr. Robert Imbelli has a fine essay on the essential role of dogma in not just shaping or defining Christian life and praxis, but in grounding it in the mystery of revelation. In a nutshell, dogmatists — and there are plenty whom Imbelli rightly describes as "dogmatically anti-dogmatic" — are enslaving, but Christian dogma liberates.
From the Center for Migration Studies, Executive Director Donald Kerwin issues a forceful statement against the Trump administration's decision to end the temporary protective status for some 200,000 Salvadorans.
At Commonweal, John Gehring has a wonderful interview with Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who is one of our church's truly outstanding prelates. The interview highlights what I think is most distinguishing about a certain kind of churchman, not just intelligence and compassion, but a certain equanimity that is out of the ordinary.
From the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' "ToGoForth" blog, published by the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, some ideas for National Migration Week.
In case you missed this over Christmas, at The New York Times, Nicholas Kristoff interviews Cardinal Joe Tobin of Newark, New Jersey.
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From the "Stop beating your head against the wall" file, and the NY Times, advocates for statehood for Puerto Rico completely misread the political landscape: The only group strengthened by the federal government's fitful response to the hurricanes is the independence movement.
At the Tablet, a report on the installation of a new digital organ at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. This is a very bad idea. Our liturgy is the most real thing we do and, consequently, we are required to use real candles and real incense and no synthetic fibers in our vestments. Why would you bring in a fake organ?
[Michael Sean Winters writes about the nexus between religion and politics.]
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