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1 week ago | 
ncregister.com | Matthew Becklo
AN EXPLAINER BASED ON THE CATECHISM View of the top of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican (photo: Unsplash) Commentaries May 7, 2025 The conclave to elect a new pope has, naturally, unleashed a deluge of commentary in both Catholic and secular media.
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1 week ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |Leroy Huizenga
Who chooses the pope—God or the cardinals? Thoughts on one of the great paradoxes of the Faith: the convergence of divine providence and human freedom. Paul VI makes Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) a cardinal in 1977. [Wikipedia]In the interregnum between the death of Pope Francis and the conclave to elect his successor, a quotation from Pope Benedict XVI—then Cardinal Ratzinger—has been making the rounds on social media.
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2 weeks ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |James V. Schall
A glimpse of twenty “unexpectedly Catholic” writersVoyage Comics & Publishing, which has a special focus on graphic novels, has offered a helpful contribution to this literary tradition. (Image of typewriter:Markus Winkler/Unsplash.com; photo illustration: CWR staff)The worlds of Catholic theology and philosophy can, at times, feel overwhelmingly vast.
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3 weeks ago | 
catholic.com | Matthew Becklo
This is a strange, and strangely specific, description—one that it is easy to pass over as mere decoration. But it merits serious attention, because it shines a light on what was, as far as we know, the very first act of the risen Jesus. The resurrection of Christ from the dead, without which our faith “is in vain” (1 Cor.
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1 month ago | 
wordonfire.org | Matthew Becklo
The massive success of The Chosen—a first-of-its-kind multi-season series about the ministry of Jesus—is spearheading a revival in biblically themed film and TV. The culture, it seems, is shifting in a remarkable way. And now it’s the kids’ turn to join in the revival. The King of Kings, a new Angel Studios release hitting theaters nationwide on April 11, is being promoted as the first major animated biblical film since 1998’s The Prince of Egypt.
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1 month ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |Alberto Carosa
Mufasa and MimesisNeither its substance nor its style conduces to a classic, but Mufasa is an interesting and even morally instructive film. Detail from the poster for "Mufasa: The Lion King". (Image: Wikipedia)When Mufasa: The Lion King was released in theaters, I was unable to join our family in seeing it. But, almost immediately after, my wife and kids began drawing me into the world of its infectious soundtrack.
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1 month ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |Nick Olszyk
During Lent, the devil is in the discouragementIf the devil can’t ensnare us in an unscrupulous shrug, he will happily use a scrupulous huff. (Image: CNS photo/Carlo Allegri, Reuters)As we approach the halfway point of the Lenten season, many of us are experiencing a sort of “mid-Lent crisis.” So many things we had hoped to accomplish remain undone, half-done, or not really done—checked off, in a way, but without the irreproachable purity we imagined for ourselves at the outset.
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2 months ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |Carl Olson
Two recent editorials in The New York Times—one by Damien Cave and one by Amanda Taub—argue that “zero-sum game” thinking is on the rise in American geopolitics. In a zero-sum game, like tic-tac-toe or chess, one person’s gain is the other’s loss; in other words, the net sum of the exchange is zero.
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2 months ago | 
catholicworldreport.com | Matthew Becklo |Carl Olson
The heaven-earth dilemma and the scandal of God-become-dirtThe shocking logic of the Incarnation—in tandem with Scripture and Tradition—is precisely what has compelled apostolic Christians to affirm the Real Presence for two thousand years.
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2 months ago | 
us2.campaign-archive.com | Matthew Becklo |Charles Russo |Sean Fitzpatrick |George Weigel
The zero-sum crisis and the paradoxical solution By Matthew Becklo on Mar 13, 2025 02:58 pmTwo recent editorials in The New York Times—one by Damien Cave and one by Amanda Taub—argue that “zero-sum game” thinking is on the rise in American geopolitics. In a zero-sum game, like tic-tac-toe or chess, one person’s gain is Read in browser » Vatican could be close to decision in Rupnik case, report says By Catholic News Agency on Mar 13, 2025 10:50 amFather Marko Rupnik.
