Posts Tagged
Kenneth Craycraft
A Closer Look: The Domestic Church & Catholic Social Doctrine

The Gospel of St. Matthew ends with the charge of Jesus to “make disciples of all nations, . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20). And in the very last words of Christ before His ascension, He tells His disciples, “you will be …
A Closer Look: Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, Legacy, Promise, and Hope

by Dr. Kenneth Craycraft While the Archdiocese of Cincinnati celebrates its bicentennial in 2021, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology, founded in 1829, will have to wait a few more years. Nonetheless, the milestone anniversary of the archdiocese is an appropriate time to consider the past legacy, present …
A Closer Look: The Things She Carried In Her Heart

In his collection of connected short stories, The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien drives the narrative arcs of his characters – American soldiers in the Vietnam War – by listing inventories of the things they carried in their backpacks, pockets, helmets and utility belts. The soldiers don’t talk about …
A Closer Look: When Christ Calls us, He calls us to die

On Apr. 9, 1945, German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging at the Flossenbürg, Germany concentration camp two weeks before American troops liberated the prison. A mere 39-years-old, Bonhoeffer was arrested because he associated with parties who conspired to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. While he was active …
A Closer Look: Patris Corde: Developing A Father’s Heart with St. Joseph

On Dec. 8, 2020, Pope Francis promulgated his Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church and to proclaim a Year of St. Joseph. Patris Corde is a meditation on the life of …
A Closer Look: NO ATHEISTS IN ART GALLERIES

When I taught theology to undergraduates, I would ask for a show of hands of those students who agreed with the statement, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In most cases, every hand went up, even from the most devout students. And my reply would be, “I didn’t …
A Closer Look: The Education of a Catholic Christian

Toward the end of his life, American journalist and historian Henry Adams, dissatisfied with the adequacy of his traditional education, composed his memoir, The Education of Henry Adams. “The object of education,” he suggested, “should be the teaching . . . [of ] how to react with vigor and economy” …
A Closer Look: FRATELLI TUTTI, SOLIDARITY AND INCARNATIONAL EMPATHY

On Oct. 3, Pope Francis promulgated the third encyclical of his pontificate, Fratelli Tutti, signed at the tomb of St. Francis on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. The Holy Father takes his title – “All Brothers” – from St. Francis’ Admonitions, a short series of spiritual exhortations to …
A Closer Look: The Purcell Brothers, Abolition and The Catholic Telegraph

“History” is not the accumulation of facts in the past, but rather what we say about, and the use we put to, those facts. This is not to say the facts are unimportant, nor should they be manipulated by the historian. A conscientious historian wants to be as …
A Closer Look: The Profound Irresolution of Christian Citizenship

Twentieth Century theologian John Courtney Murray, S.J., remains the most important interpreter of the American Catholic experience of citizenship and religious liberty. Featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1960, Father Murray was a chief architect of Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty. In his seminal book, We Hold …