Debates continue about the present state of the liturgy in the Catholic Church and its future. Denis Crouan is President of Pro Liturgia, an organization interested in an authentic reform of the liturgy based upon the documents of the … [Read more...]
Book Reviews
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The Debate about Liturgy Continues
THE HISTORY AND THE FUTURE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY. By Denis Crouan, (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 2005), 324 pp. PB $19.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
The Roman Question
ROME IN AMERICA: TRANSNATIONAL CATHOLIC IDEOLOGY FROM THE RISORGIMENTO TO FASCISM. By Peter R. D’Agostino (The University of North Carolina Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515, 2004), 315pp. HB 59.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
A crucial moment for the modern papacy was brought about by the “Risorgimento” (1848-70) which led to the confiscation of the papal states in order to reunite the Italian peninsula. Catholic belief, at least since the time of Constantine, he … [Read more...]
The Rabbi and the Pope
THE MYTH OF HITLER’S POPE: HOW POPE PIUS XII RESCUED JEWS FROM THE NAZIS. By Rabbi David G. Dalin (Regnery Publishing, Inc., One Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001), 209 pp., HB $27.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Few people will recall that 1965 was the year that Paul VI initiated Pius XII’s cause for canonization. As it turned out, it came at the beginning of a rhetorical guerre à outrance over the reputation of the former pope which, like some gr … [Read more...]
Maritain at the Cliff’s Edge
JACQUES MARITAIN: AN INTELLECTUAL PROFILE. By Jude Dougherty (The Catholic University of America Press, P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, Md. 21211, 2003), 128 pp. PB $21.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
The essays that comprise this volume reflect an understanding of Maritain’s life and thought that comes only from many years of reading and reflecting. If the essays were confined to Maritain’s thought, they would be interesting and inf … [Read more...]
Many signs of hope
Young And Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow’s Church. By Tim Drake (Sophia Press, Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108; 1-800-888-9344; 2004), 259 pp. PB $16.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
In the aftermath of dissenting theologians who question the authority of the Magisterium, in the wake of the scandal of Catholic annulments in America, in the prevalent culture of death endorsed by liberal Catholic politicians, and in the … [Read more...]
Frontier Convert and Apologist for the Church
THE TRUE CHURCH: THE PATH WHICH LED A PROTESTANT LAWYER TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. By Peter H. Burnett (Solas Press, P.O. Box 4066, Antioch, CA 94531, [2004]), xxx + 298 + viii + 420 pp. HB $39.95. (Available online through www.solaspress.com).
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This weighty tome (two volumes in one), originally published in 1860, is a frontier Apologia pro vita sua written by a lawyer who converted from a protestant movement, known as the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, to Catholicism while … [Read more...]
A Feast of High Theology
THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE LITURGY. By David Berger; translated by Christopher Grosz (Sapientia Press, 300 West Forest Ave., Ypsilanti, Mich. 48197, 2004), x + 127 pp. P8 $14.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This is truly a remarkable little book. In 113 modest-sized pages of text, the German Thomist David Berger offers us a feast of high theology, meditative reflection, and sharp critique. How many books offer a readable summary of St. … [Read more...]
Truth and Beauty
IN THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD: THE LIFE, FAITH, AND TEACHINGS OF JOSEPH RATZINGER, POPE BENEDICT XVI. By Marco Bardazzi (Rizzoli, New York, N.Y., 2005), 138 pp. PB $16.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Marco Bardazzi is an Italian journalist and the American correspondent of ANSA, an Italian news agency. He lives in New York City. This brief biography of Pope Benedict XVI is an easily readable story of his life told in chronological … [Read more...]
A Question of Fairness
A review of Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith, by John Allen
April 1, 2009 by Rev. Vincent Twomey, SVD
Cardinal Ratzinger is perhaps the most controversial figure in the Church today, a subject awaiting an author. Various articles about him have appeared, but no book, until the recent appearance of that by John L. Allen, Jr., Vatican … [Read more...]
Chesterton the Metaphysician
COMMON SENSE 101: LESSONS FROM G. K. CHESTERTON. By Dale Ahlquist (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, CO, 80522, 2006), 316 pp. PB. $16.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
If G. K. Chesterton had lived 75 years later, would he have been a radio talk-show host? He certainly had the personality and wit and love of verbal jousting. In his day (the first third of the twentieth century) he was, in fact, a popular … [Read more...]
Help for the Homilist
CHRISTIAN ELOQUENCE: CONTEMPORARY DOCTRINAL PREACHING. By C. Colt Anderson (Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 N. Hermitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60633) 237 pp. PB
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
In the 13 chapters of this slender volume C. Colt Anderson, an associate professor of Church History at St. Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary, provides ten complete sermons from patristic and medieval preachers as translated by Ian … [Read more...]
The Meaning of Christian Joy
JOY: THE SPIRIT’S GIGANTIC SECRET BEHIND THE CHURCH’S SURVIVAL By Father John T. Catoir (Alba House, Society of St. Paul, 2187 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, N.Y.10314, 2006; 1-800-343-2522), 190 pp. PB. $14.95.
March 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This is a simple but substantive book on the full meaning and rich sources of Christian joy, “the gigantic secret” that G. K. Chesterton discovered as the essence of Christianity. It recovers an aspect of the Church’s teaching that church fa … [Read more...]
New Help for Canonists
EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE CODE OF CANON LAW: Prepared under the Faculty of Canon Law, University of Navarre. English edition edited by Ernest Caparros (Wilson & Lafleur / Midwest Theological Forum, 2004). Five volumes bound as eight, approximately 9,000 pages. List price US $1,200.00. Purchase Online.
March 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
More than twenty years have passed since the promulgation of the 1983 Code, hardly more than the blink of an eye in terms of Church history but an entire generation in terms of human lives, especially in terms of their education. Throughout … [Read more...]
Pastoral Interpretation in Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth
As a pastoral rather than an academic work, Jesus of Nazareth preaches a Gospel that is centered in the person of Christ.
May 1, 2008 by Dr. Peter S. Williamson
Much has been said both in praise and in criticism of Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth. Fergus Kerr, a theologian writing in the The Tablet, calls it Joseph Ratzinger’s best book. Peter Steinfels, a journalist writing in Commonweal, finds it … [Read more...]
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