Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

A Catholic finds more comfort in being "Catholic"

Two weeks ago I posted a piece about Nathanael Blake, a twenty-year old junior at Oregon State University who wrote an excellent column about Pope John Paul II, truth, and relativism. As I noted, Blake is apparently a non-Catholic.

I'd hate to appear imbalanced (or "pluralistically-challenged" or "diversity-stunted" or whatever the term might be), so now I turn to a recent column, "Catholicism Does't Have to Be Repressive," written by Maggie Carlson, a senior at Webster University (in the Saint Louis area).

Novelist of the Last Days

    

Ignatius Press recently published Michael O'Brien's Sophia House, the sixth novel in the acclaimed Children of the Last Days series. It is a prequel to the best-selling Father Elijah. IgnatiusInsight.com spoke to Michael about the new novel, the series, and the worlds of literature and art.
      
IgnatiusInsight.com: Sophia House is the sixth novel in the Children of the Last Days series. How has that series of novels evolved over time? What has surprised you or intrigued you about the development of the series over the years?

Read entire interview...

Father Fessio on EWTN this week...

Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.  will be on a special live show hosted by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.,  on EWTN, on Tuesday, May 3rd at 8:00 pm Eastern (5:00 pm Pacific) to talk about Pope Benedict XVI!  The segment will be rebroadcast throughout the remainder of the week (all times Eastern): 

• Tuesday, May 3, at 8:00 PM
• Wednesday, May 4, 1:00 AM
• Friday, May 6, 9:00 AM
• Saturday, May 7, 6:00 PM

Evangelicals and the Papacy

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has written a lengthy column titled "Pope Benedict XVI—What Should We Think?" in today's edition of The Christian Post. Mohler has more praise for Benedict than do many Catholic commentators and points out the many areas of agreement between the pontiff and Evangelical Protestants. He then asks,

You are invited...

... to the North American Premiere of Jean Delannoy's acclaimed film, Bernadette. The film will be shown on the 22' big screen at the Our Lady of Peace Hall in Santa Clara, California.

The supreme philosopher and supreme theologian

That's how, respectively, Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI are described by Bishop Kevin Manning in this fine column by Australian Rachael Patterson, who is a Lecturer in Law at Deakin University in Melbourne. That's a simplified (not simplistic) description, since both men have/had extensive backgrounds in both theology and philosophy. Benedict XVI is more of a biblical scholar and I think that comes through clearly in his many writings. I also think that, generally speaking, he also has a more direct approach in his speaking and writing. John Paul II, as many have noted, is more mystical and contemplative. Hopefully, at the appropriate time, someone with the necessary training and skill will explore the similarities and differences in detail.

CORRECTION!

In posting Dr. James Hitchcock's column, "Confronting Modern Culture; Asserting the Gospel," last week, I somehow left off the entire closing paragraph; the piece is now correct and complete. My apologies to Dr. Hitchcock and to readers for this editing gaffe.

Benedict XVI on the No Word

As any parent knows, saying "no" is usually harder and more painful than saying yes.

Here is what then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger said in an interview with Vatican Radio after 2001 publication of the book God in the World:   "I always remember, with great affection, the goodness of my father and mother. And for me goodness also means the ability to say 'no,' because goodness that lets anything go can't be good for another.

"Sometimes goodness can also mean saying 'no,' even with the risk of sounding contradictory. But this must be nourished not by a sense of power or vindication but by an ultimate goodness which is the desire to do good to others. These are my criteria, this is my background; other people can add to it what they wish."

See more excerpts from God and the World here.

Mario Cuomo "cling[s] desperately to our Catholic Church ..."

... for instruction, inspiration and support," and "prayed that a new Pope would help heal the church's serious wounds and reconnect it more surely to modern realities." But he is disappointed in the selection of Benedict XVI. Sure, he's "a good and holy man." But "we are told"—by all of the smart people, I imagine—that "rather than reform the status quo [Benedict XVI] will reaffirm it more insistently than before."

CNS on Father Fessio, Ignatius Press, future Benedict XVI books

Nice piece in Catholic News Service about Father Fessio's relationship with  Benedict XVI and future publication of the new pontiff's books:

"Book sales have gone through the roof," said Mark Brumley, Ignatius Press president. He told CNS that Ignatius has reprinted about 200,000 copies of various books by the cardinal and plans to publish three new works written before the papal election.

One is a photo book about Pope John Paul II scheduled for fall publication that includes a lengthy essay by Cardinal Ratzinger, said Brumley.

He listed the other two as:

-- A collection of essays by the cardinal, chosen by the cardinal's students, and called "Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith," scheduled for May publication.

-- A book of reflections on Jesus called "On the Way to Jesus Christ," scheduled for publication this summer.

Brumley said that Ignatius Press continues to have exclusive rights in English to works by Pope Benedict that were not written as papal documents. Brumley noted that Pope John Paul II granted exclusive publishing rights to some of his writings that were not part of his papal office.

If you've not visited the new site devoted to Pope Benedict XVI's books, click here.

The world reaches for stones...

ZENIT has posted a homily given by then-Cardinal Ratzinger on March 18, 2005 in St Peter's Basilica. The topic was the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes—"The Church in the Modern World." Ratzinger's comments are especially timely in light of the sort of attacks that have been made on him, the papacy, and the Catholic Church since he was elected Pope:

Pope Benedict on the Nature of the Priesthood

In an article from the August-September 1997 issue of HPR, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) spoke of the nature of the priesthood.  Read the entire article here...

Excerpt:

Two opposing concepts of priestly ministry stood—and still stand—face to face. On one side, the social-functional view defines priest­hood in terms of “service”; a service performed for the community, through carrying out a func­tion of the Church in its social dimension. On the other side, the sacramental-ontological view, without denying the aspect of service, sees priesthood as rooted in the minister’s being itself, and this being, in turn, as determined through a gift bestowed by the Lord through the Church, known as a sacrament. The function­al view is also connected with a shift in termi­nology: expressions like “priest” and “priest­hood” with their sacral connotations are avoided, and replaced by the neutral, function­al words “minister” and “ministry,” until now hardly used in Catholic theology.

Can Catholics Refuse Medical Treatment?

In the article The Morality of Refusing Medical Treatments,  just posted at HPR, Fr. John Balluff discusses issues that came to the foreground during the recent Terri Schiavo debacle.  Don't miss it!

Signs of the End of the World...

I shudder in horror while reading news that CBS is working on making "a big-budget, international miniseries about the late Pope John Paul II." No word if secret memos will be allowed in the writing of the script...

Just in: Atheists don't care for new pontiff

No, really, it's true: "humanists" and atheists are having a hard time believing (pun intended!) that the new pope is going to help people deny God, embrace materialism, and admit that life is just a long, cruel joke created by pure chance. Well, they didn't actually say all of that, but this column by J. Grant Swank, Jr. does have some fun quotes. The best remark, however, comes from Swank, who states: "What makes no sense to me is why any atheist/humanist would care about anybody’s beliefs about anything. If we are all going to die so as to rot in the ground, why then does it matter what any mortal proclaims about anything?" Oh, sure, appeal to blind logic and superstitious commonsense! Don't you know that science has proven that Christians don't make any sense?

Coping With Demand for Papal Print

A nice article in The Book Standard takes a look at the logistical challenges faced by Ignatius Press when orders flooded the publisher upon the election of Benedict XVI:

When Ignatius Press, the small San Francisco, Calif.–based publishing house, received a publicity boost of divine proportions, the company’s excellent relationship with its printer, along with its successful internal systems, allowed it to benefit from what otherwise could have been—to borrow a phrase—a “catastrophic success.” For Ignatius, the April 19 election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the position of 265th pontiff of the Catholic Church, meant that the house’s 14 staffers suddenly had to handle a much higher-profile author—Ignatius had published and distributed all 21 of the former cardinal’s works in the U.S. The staff responded by working longer hours and, in the words of marketing assistant Eva Muntean, “making a lot of coffee.”

Catholicism, coffee, and the Cardinal's books—it's a hard combination to beat...

Deacon Burke-Sivers to appear on EWTN's "Life on the Rock"

My good friend Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers is the guest on tonight's edition of EWTN's "Life on the Rock." Deacon Harold is a dynamic, passionate young Catholic who often speaks on male spirituality, family life, and apologetic topics to groups around the country, on "Catholic Answers Live", and on EWTN. More info about Deacon Harold can be found on his web site and in this IgnatiusInsight.com article, "The Meaning and Necessity of Spiritual Fatherhood."

"Worshipping at the Feet of the Lord"

Such is the title of this IgnatiusInsight.com piece by my good friend Dr. Anthony Clark on Pope Benedict XVI's views on the liturgy. A helpful introduction to a topic that I think we will be hearing much more about in the near future.

Many Jewish leaders praise Benedict XVI...

...while others seem a bit confused. Or ignorant. Or simply contrary. An April 28th article on the Canadian Jewish News has a number of quotes, along with some shaky analysis of Ratzinger's time in the Nazi Youth (for his own description of that time, go here). But the worst is saved for last:

Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine and rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in San Francisco, is among the new pope’s critics. “It was with great distress that we watched as Cardinal Ratzinger led the Vatican in the past 25 years on a path that opposed providing birth control information to the poor of the world, thereby ensuring that AIDS would spread and kill millions in Africa,” Lerner said.

No proof is offered that Cardinal Ratzinger has forced Africans to commit acts of fornication or homosexuality, but one suspects he has not. And then this:

German Jews expressed some concern over Ratzinger’s election. “A few people who know him say he is not bad. He has good relations with some Jewish persons,” Nathan Kalmanowicz, head of religious affairs for the Central Council of Jews in Germany and a member of Munich’s Jewish community, told JTA. “But the vast majority is afraid of what will happen. He is opposed to reform and not as familiar with Jewish issues” as the last pope, “and as far as we know, he is not interested in promoting issues like the Holocaust.”

LOL! "A few people who know him say he is not bad"?! How about: "Everyone who knows him has nothing but great things to say"? As for as the Holocaust being an "issue," I confess to some confusion: I thought the Holocaust was an historical event. I suppose it was an issue for the Nazis, who certainly promoted it. So isn't it good that Benedict isn't interested in promoting such a thing? Oh, nevermind...

"It's Not Ratzinger That's Showing Nazi Tendencies"

That's the title of this pithy, punchy column by Duncan Maxwell Anderson, who describes Pope Benedict XVI  as a man who "seems determined to stand in the middle of this highway with his hand raised high, like the man who halted the line of Chinese tanks heading for Tiananmen Square. And it may seem that Benedict's task of turning back the culture of confusion and death has grim prospects of success." An apt comparison and an understandable concern...