Ken Craycraft, Author at Catholic Herald

Ken Craycraft

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January 08, 2021

“When people write violent absurdities on the walls of a city, the city becomes violent and absurd.” For the past four years I have often thought of (and cited) this quote from Mark Helprin’s excellent novel, A Soldier of the Great War. Over the course those years, one prominent man, Donald J. Trump, has been

The Many Stars of Bethlehem

January 06, 2021

While “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways,” begins the Epistle to the Hebrews, “in these last days, He spoke to us through a Son.” The Star of Bethlehem is the sign that we most commonly associate with the announcement of God’s manifestation to the nations. Even though God has now revealed himself in

The Most Dangerous Branch

December 30, 2020

SCOTUS 2020 year-in-review, or: Why Alexander Hamilton may have spoken too soon. Alexander Hamilton famously called the federal judiciary the “least dangerous” of the three branches of the United States government — a claim that requires some qualification in light of history, and especially in light of recent history. Hamilton predicted that the judiciary would

6575 Days

December 16, 2020

Today, December 16, 2020, for the 6575th consecutive day, I have decided not to take a drink of alcohol. For normal people, that is 18 years. But I’m not a normal person. I am an addict. At least for the purpose of staying sober, we recovering addicts know better than to count time in any

Advent: A Season About Nothing

December 06, 2020

Advent differs from Seinfeld in at least one significant respect. Advent is a season about nothing. But unlike the pointless drifting of the characters and stories in Seinfeld, Advent is ordered toward and by a purpose that gives it meaning. It is a staple of Advent reflection to emphasize that this is period of watching

Around A Crowded Table

November 25, 2020

In a “normal” year, this is the time in the United States in which extended families and friends gather to feast, to give thanks for their blessings, and to initiate holiday festivities. While some families will maintain their customs this year, many will be forced to concede to the pandemic and either forego or significantly

Craycraft Fancies a Lawsuit

November 18, 2020

Comes now Plaintiff Christus Rex, by and through counsel, pursuant to Quas Primas, promulgated by Pius XI, as amended by motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis of St. Paul VI, both of blessed memory and rightful successors to the throne of St. Peter, and for His complaint of insubordination against Defendant the United States of America, avows

Reflections on a Fellow Bad Catholic

November 12, 2020

So numerous indeed and so powerful are the causes which serve to give a false bias to the judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions of the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly attended to, would furnish

Rivals and Idols

November 04, 2020

The enervating experience of the current election cycle points to deeper malaise. The 2020 U.S. presidential election already may have burned more moral and psychological energy than any presidential election in any of our lifetimes—already, and it’s not over yet. For me, it seems to have been the most contentious and emotionally draining of the

The Weight of Conscience

November 01, 2020

As in all similar contests, the upcoming U.S. election calls Christians to form their moral consciences according to the whole of Christian truth, and then to apply that formation to the deliberate decisions they make in the voting booth. A pivotal scene in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons has this exchange between Sir

Fratelli Tutti: a timely and welcome meditation

October 06, 2020

This week, different writers for Chapter House will be looking at Pope Francis’s newly released encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, bringing you different takes on various aspects of the document. Pope Francis’s Fratelli Tutti is a timely and welcome meditation on “fraternity and social friendship”—as the subtitle tells us. The Holy Father announces the intention of the

All Judgment is Theological

September 27, 2020

The framing of the debate over Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the US Supreme Court is problematic, says Ken Craycraft, no matter the side from which one views it. The nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for a seat on the United States Supreme Court raises serious questions about the propriety of personal religious

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