Some two years ago, I attended the Called and Co-Responsible conference at the University of Notre Dame. It was a conference about the role of the laity in the Church. One of the speakers, Fr. Michael Sweeny, O.P. made two insightful statements in his talk that resonated deeply with my
In the first part of this essay, I provided the rationale and method of offering a series of “touchstones” by way of which we might “map” the whole of Dante’s Divine Comedy. My chief aim is to speak of a very small number of parts of the poem that seem
Why Would Anyone Want God to Make for Tragedy? It may not seem like much for an advertisement for God to say that God makes for tragedy. The billboard that asserts that “God makes for tragedy” seems on a par, in terms of public relations, with the billboard warning bleary-eyed
Introduction and a Map of the Inferno “It is now customary to speak of Dante as the Catholic poet, even as Milton is called the Protestant poet,” lamented Harold Bloom nearly four decades ago; in consequence, readers “seem to have learned to read Dante precisely as they would read theology.”[1]
SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Severance is a fascinating show that joins the theological and philosophical to contemporary concerns with work-life balance and techno-capitalist wish-fulfillment. The questions it raises are at once philosophical and social: what does it mean to be a person, to have an identity? How central is memory
Pope Francis’s monthly intention for March is “A Christian Response to Bioethical Challenges.” The question of “brain death” continues to be a major bioethical challenge for Christian bioethicists. Take, for example, the following case: Karla’s was happy, eager to help and willing to brighten everyone’s day. She had a fondness for children. and