To Set Our Lands in Order

From The Catholic Thing · 09:07

Show by The Catholic Thing

By Robert Royal But first A confession from Robert Royal: I am enthusiastic, perhaps too enthusiastic, about this whole line of thought and life because it's precisely what we have been trying to do for almost two decades here at The Catholic Thing. And in my own stumbling, piecemeal fashion, I'd earlier made my way towards these truths despite countervailing winds at various educational institutions. The need is only more urgent now. I'm convinced enough of its critical importance at this moment in history – indeed, in every age – that I feel justified in coming to you, our dear TCT readers, just a few times a year to ask for your financial support. And it's that time again. The coming year is going to be marked by various kinds of public chaos – all the more reason that we strive to construct every bit of personal and social order that we can, each of us, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Only the Catholic thing, the fullness of our tradition, is up to the task. TCT will be here, every morning, 365 days a year, for you, bringing you the best opinion and commentary, in a readable format, of which we're capable. As I always say during our funding campaigns, I know you readers understand why we're here, why you're here, and why your support is so vital. So please, do what you always do. Give generously – in whatever way is best for you – to The Catholic Thing. Now for today's column... Rome is often rainy and cold in November, but the past few days it's been mostly sunny and warm. The pope may be in Latin America, but the Eternal City continues to draw huge crowds, even in his absence – to judge by the masses in every public and private space – comparable with those he's drawing (as I write) in Uruguay and Argentina. It's a somewhat reassuring thought that whoever is running things at any given moment, the Catholic barque sails on – in Rome and the whole world. But there are also dangerous shoals below the surface. One of the more surprising things I've seen in Rome this trip is a whole series of one-person tents set up at night between the pillars of the colonnades at St. Peter's. This is new to me. No doubt the people who organized this mean well. But like the people who distribute "clean" drug paraphernalia in American cities, they're enabling the very behavior that they want to remedy. In a civilized society, or a Church that truly cares for the poor, institutions are set up – and funds found – so that people (most of whom need drug and psychological counseling) don't live on the street, to their detriment and ours. I'm in Rome this week for publication of the Italian translation of my book on The Martyrs of the New Millennium, but also to participate in a conference sponsored by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on "Classical Foundations and Moral Authority." The two events are not unrelated, or unrelated to social and Church reform. Without clear foundations and principles, our moral efforts – as we see all around us these days, not least in piazza San Pietro – decay into mere niceness and incoherence. And without people willing to sacrifice, suffer, even die for the truth, even the loftiest intellectual and ethical principles remain mere ideas. We just celebrated the feast of St. Charles Borromeo. If anyone was a Catholic Reformer, he was. He took on the lazy, the time-servers, the corrupt, and the decadent in Rome and Milan (his archdiocese); helped organize the final session of the Council of Trent; and took a major role in producing the Tridentine Catechism, which was aimed at forming priests, who in his view, were then poorly educated and, therefore unprepared, to deal with people's deepest needs. Though heir to the fortune of one of the noblest and richest families in Renaissance Italy, he lived simply and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. When the plague struck Milan in 1576, he remained in the city and organized relief efforts for tens of thousands of people, often paying for ...

More episodes of The Catholic Thing

More episodes

PodSearch is a free, independent podcast search engine. Read about PodSearch, the privacy policy or contact us.