Solzhenitsyn’s call for courageous voices
At First Things, Robert George recalled the moment in 1978 when he attended the annual Harvard commencement address. “A man with a craggy face and a beard,” a Christian novelist speaking in Russian with simultaneous translation, delivered the speech. His name was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
He was known as a critic of the Soviet Union which had put him in the Gulag. But at Harvard he criticised the West for “its abandonment of its own moral and, especially, spiritual ideals and identity”.
Solzhenitsyn, wrote George, “viewed the West’s weakness, including its weakness in truly standing up to Soviet aggression, as the fruit of the materialism, consumerism, self-indulgent individualism, emotivism, and narcissism – in a word, the immorality – into which we had allowed ourselves to sink.”
Notably, Solzhenitsyn. observed that “A decline in courage may be the most striking feature, which an outside observer notices in the West in our days.”
This was true today, George reflected, when courage is needed to stand up for the unborn, for migrants and refugees, or for the true definition of marriage. But those who speak out face “abuse and defamation. And these days it goes well beyond unpleasantness. To speak moral truth to cultural power is to put at risk one’s social standing, one’s educational and employment opportunities, one’s professional advancement”.
However, “the more people, in reaction to these threats, acquiesce or go silent, the more dangerous and therefore more difficult it becomes for anyone to speak the truth out loud, even if they know it in their hearts”.
The stone which takes us into Pilate’s time
At Aleteia, J-P Mauro summed up what we known of Pontius Pilate – a field of knowledge which was improved by the 1971 discovery of the “Pilate Stone” at the site of an ancient Roman theatre. The limestone was “weathered by time”, but was still identifiable as a dedication stone. It “corroborates Pilate’s position as prefect of Judea, as well as the era in which he held office”.
Although several ancient historians mention Pilate, “The ‘Pilate Stone’ remains the only first-hand evidence of Pilate, which, quite literally, has set his historical relevance in stone.”
The Vatican: not yet a World Cup contender
At EpicPew, Melissa Guerrero observed that the Church has a long connection with football. “The first reported match played in the Vatican occurred on January 7, 1521. Pope Leo X was a spectator.” This wasn’t quite like modern football, however. But since the formation of the modern game, the Vatican has established its own league, founded in 1973.
It also has its own team of “Vatican employees (like members of the Swiss guards, police officers, and postal workers)”. Since its first match in 2002, it has taken on teams including “Monaco, San Marino, Palestine, and league teams Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany) and SV Vollmond (Switzerland).”
✣ A thief who stole a bag of books about Catholicism has written to its rightful owner to ask for forgiveness – after reading the books.
Fr Gregorio Hidalgo, known as Fr Goyo, described on Twitter how a bag of signed Scott Hahn books were stolen through an open car window five years ago. Hahn is a convert whose books include Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism.
“Five years later [the apparent thief] found me on Facebook,” wrote Fr Goyo, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “He read the books and wants forgiveness.” Fr Goyo said he suspected the thief had not known the bag contained only books.
✣ The front page of a diocesan newspaper has gone viral on social media because of a typo in the headline. The St Louis Review was reporting Archbishop Robert James Carlson’s ordination of 25 men as permanent deacons. Its headline read: “Not to serve, but to be served.” The paper has apologised.
✣ Alanis Morissette has said her most treasured possession is a crucifix. The Canadian singer, who was raised a Catholic, told the Guardian her grandmother carried the crucifix while escaping the 1956 Hungarian revolution. She gave it to her granddaughter before she died.
✣The week in quotations
When the state tries to undermine what it means to be Catholic, we will resist Australian priest Fr Michael Whelan on threats to the Seal of Confession ABC News
The Pope more than anybody else has driven the migrant crisis Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon ABC’s This Week
The war in Ukraine has become a silent war Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk Catholic News Agency
We are truly full of hope Archbishop Xuereb, nuncio to South Korea, on Trump-Kim talks Vatican News
✣Statistic of the week
61% The percentage of Christians in Britain who say they are proud to be Christian Source: Pew Research
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