Extra, extra! News and views for October 13, 2022

Elite Students – “America’s elite university students are more demographically diverse than the general population, but more politically divided along lines of race, gender, sexuality, and religion.” Diverse and Divided: A Political Demography of American Elite Students (Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology)

Face of the Synod – Cardinal Mario Grech has become much more than the coordinator of a process, he is the leading champion of the concept of a “synodal Church”. The rise of Cardinal Grech (The Pillar)

The Old Order – “[M]ost of the major theological societies in North America (American Academy of Religion, The College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America) were thoroughly and completely run by the progressive wing of the Church.” Orwellian Synodality (Gaudium et Spes 22)

Dysconnected – As the father of three girls, California filmmaker and author Don Johnson set out in his latest documentary to uncover the truth about the transgenderism movement ‘Dysconnected’ Documentary Explores Roots of Transgender Explosion (The Epoch Times)

Historic Heart – “Those who enter the Palafoxiana Library for the first time — seeing the high, vaulted ceiling and gold-framed painting of the Virgin Mary — might think they’ve arrived at a chapel.” Oldest public library in the Americas has Catholic origins (Crux)

Open Up, FBI – “The Federal Bureau of Investigation this week arrested a pro-life father of 11 children, charging him with “conspiracy against rights secured by the FACE Act, and committing FACE Act violations.” ‘Guns Pointed at Me’: FBI Arrests Father of 11 in Front of His Children for Pro-Life Work (Daily Signal)

Catholics and Methodists – “Exploring their sacraments, rituals and outreach that promote reconciliation with God and among people, Catholic and Methodist experts acknowledged in a new document that divided Christians ‘fall short of what it means to be the church.’” Reconciliation: Catholic-Methodist dialogue looks at rituals, mission (Detroit Catholic)

Synodality – “The synodal ‘listening’ is presented as a pastoral approach to “accompanying” the “faithful.” But as we know from recent history in secular contexts, all this is really a prelude to surrender.” So What’s to Fear? (The Catholic Thing)

Spiritual and Temporal Powers – “In two recent lectures, one delivered earlier this month in Rome, the other last week in Washington, Russell Hittinger has argued for the separation of the Church from all temporal powers.” Correlation, not Contrariety: A Response to Russell Hittinger (The Lamp Magazine)

Catholic Roots – About 30 Jesuit priests from Georgetown University in Washington spent a day exploring the roots of Catholicism in colonial Maryland. Georgetown Jesuits explore roots of Catholicism on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Georgetown Jesuits explore roots of Catholicism on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Catholic Review)

Tolle Lege – Even in an era of digital media, hard-copy books play an important role in intellectual formation at the parish level. ‘Take and Read’: Parish Libraries Help Form the Mind in Faith (National Catholic Register)

Leaving Scientism Behind – I began to believe that miracles, articles of faith were possible as I fell away from the religion of “scientism,” the belief that science could explain everything. Why I Wrote a Science Primer, And What it’s All about (Catholic Stand)

First Things First – “St. Thomas More gives us our Catholic response: “Be Catholic first.” Not sometimes, or most of the time, but every day, in every situation, big and small, in public and private.” Be Catholic First (First Things)

(*The posting of any particular news item or essay is not an endorsement of the content and perspective of said news item or essay.)

Catholic World Report