Contents

Foreword: “No Higher Vocation, No Greater Joy,” by Charles J.
Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Introduction: “A Thing Not a Theory,” by Robert Royal

I. Fundamental Things
1. “Implicit Philosophy,” Ralph McInerny 1
2. “A Man Like No Other,” Anthony Esolen 3
3. “The Grounds of Civilization,” James V. Schall S.J. 6
4. “Two Mistakes on the Human in Nature,” Hadley Arkes 8
5. “The Book of Life,” Robert Royal 11
6. “One God: No More, No Less,” Michael Baruzzini 13
7. “Understanding First Philosophy,” Francis Beckwith 16
8. “The End of the Science/Religion War,” John O’Callaghan 18
9. “The First Freedom and the First Right,” Austin Ruse 21
10. “The Catholic Principle,” Robert Royal 23

II. Catholica
1. “Preparing to Pray,” Michael Novak 26
2. “Saints, Columns of Light,” Fr. John Jay Hughes 28
3. “The Immaculate Conception,” James V. Schall S.J. 30
4. “Faith’s Greatest Threat,” William E. Carroll 33
5. “Guadalupe, a Reset,” Brad Miner 35
6. “Lourdes, a Simple Theory,” Brad Miner 38
7. “On Foot to Santiago,” Matthew Hanley 40
8. “Mythical Thinking,” Bevil Bramwell OMI 43
9. “Lost in Translation,” Anthony Esolen 46
10. “Can We Stop Telling God What to Do?,” Randall Smith 48
11. “The Eucharist and Cannibalism,” Michael P. Foley 51
12. “More Doctrine, Please,” Todd Hartch 54
13. “Advent Resolutions,” David Warren 56
14. “Mrs. Christ, Teacher of Theology,” David Bonagura 59
15. “Amateur Night,” Fr. Bevil Bramwell 61
16. “Lent, Monkey Mind, and E-Asceticism,” Robert Royal 64
17. “Faith is not a Checklist,” Randall Smith 66
18. “Catholic Social Teaching—without Fear,” Joseph Wood 69
19. “The Golden Age Cometh,” Fr. C. J. McCloskey 72

III. Controversies
1. “Is Obama Worth a Mass?”, Ralph McInerny 76
2. “Politicians, Old Buildings, and Whores,” Austin Ruse 78
3. “Scandal Time,” Robert Royal 81
4. “The John Jay Report,” Brad Miner 84
5. “A Different Priestly Scandal,” Michael Novak 87
6. “Tim Russert: The Story Untold,” Hadley Arkes 89
7. “Russert II: Every Man His Own Church,” Hadley Arkes 91
8. “Catholic Charities: A Two-Fold Challenge,” Matthew Hanley 94
9. “The Economic Crisis: We’re All Responsible,” Sean Fieler 97
10. “The Witness of Pius XII,” George J. Marlin 99
11. “Justice and Charity,” Roberto de Mattei 102
12. “Excommunicate Pelosi,” Brad Miner 105
13. “The Seamless Garment, Revisited,” Peter Brown 108
14. “Catholic Identity,” John W. Carlson 111
15. “Pornography and Marriage,” Patrick Fagan 115
16. “AIDS and Risk-Reduction,” Matthew Hanley 117
17. “Beyond the Dictatorship of Relativism,” Robert Royal 120
18. “With Backs Unbowed,” Fr. Philip de Vous 123
19. “The Bioethics Gang,” Hadley Arkes 125
20. “Six Things the Bishops Must Do,” Michael Uhlmann 127

IV. Church and Culture
1. “Gray’s Anatomy,” Robert Royal 131
2. “A Dark Knight of the Soul,” Richard Doerflinger 133
3. “Empty Cradle, Empty Gallery,” Mary Eberstadt 136
4. “Cormac McCarthy’s The Road,” Joan Frawley Desmond 138
5. “Teachers as Witnesses,” Aaron Urbanczyk 141
6. “Are Catholics Creationists?,” George Sim Johnston 144
7. “Two, Three, Many Charlotte Simonses,” Mary Eberstadt 146
8. “Sin – and Pet Lions,” Brad Miner 149
9. “Of Doubtful Humility,” Robert Royal 152
10. “A Defense of Organized Religion,” Howard Kainz 154
11. “The Nation with the Soul of a Church,” John B. Kienker157
12. “The Power of the Third Commandment,” Patrick Fagan 160
13. “Mother of the Unborn,” Greg Pfundstein 162
14. “A Callus on the Soul,” Anthon Esolen 165
15. “Why Catholics Are Right,” Michael Coren 167
16. “Les Miserables as Via Crucis,” Karen Goodwin 170
17. “Should Catholics Have to Pay for Anti-Catholic Bigotry?” Fr. Val J. Peter 173
18. “The French Debate on Gay ‘Marriage,’” Jean Duchesne 175
19. “The Life of B.,” Robert Royal 178
20. “Oracular Politics,” David Warren 181
21. “Steve Jobs and the New Evangelization,” Fr. C John McCloskey 184
22. “The Limits of Subsidiarity,” Peter Brown 187
23. “The Shell Game in Modern Culture,” Bevil Bramwell OMI190
24. “The Sound of Faith,” Robert Reilly 192
25. “The Real News about Stem Cells,” Damiano Rondelli MD195
26. “Obama Proposes a Toast,” William Saunders 197
27. “The Divine Child,” Anthony Esolen 200
28. “How Civilizations Die,” Matthew Hanley 203

V. Conversions and Conversations
1. “Third Person Singular,” Brad Miner 207
2. “Finalmente: Coming into the Church,” Hadley Arkes 209
3. “Outreach to the Homeless,” Charlotte Hays 212
4. “Then I confessed, I Can Do No Other,” Francis Beckwith214
5. “A Banquet of Truth,” Todd Hartch 217
6. “Come, Let Us Reason Together,” Emina Melonic 219
7. “A Dialogue between Christ and a Muslim,” Robert Reilly222
8. “In the Beginning. . .”, William E. Carroll 226
9. “When Prides Masquerades as Humility,” Tom Bethell 229
10. “The Problem of Good,” Howard Kainz 231
11. “An Ancient Letter,” Joseph Wood 234
12. “Bold, Benedetto, and Bello!,” Robert Royal 237

VI. Personal Portraits
1. “JFK: Charm or Character?,” George J. Marlin 240
2. “Remembering Fulton J. Sheen,” George J. Marlin 243
3. “Our Brother, Paul,” Peter Brown 246
4. “Rediscovering St. Mugg,” Daniel Mahoney 249
5. “A Singular, Ordinary man,” Robert Royal 252
6. “Nino: A Memoir,” Hadley Arkes 254
7. “Karol Wojtyla, Bishop,” Bevil Bramwell OMI 257
8. “When Life Becomes Intolerable,” Damiano Rondelli MD 259
9. “William F. Buckley Against the World,” Jeremy Lott 262
10. “Marie Dolan, Guerrilla Catholic,” Kristina Johannes 264
11. “Fathers and Sons,” Brad Miner 267
12. “The Importance of Vocation,” Andreas Widmer 270

Appendix: In Memoriam
1. Richard Neuhaus (Robert Royal, Ralph McInerny, Brad Miner, Michael Novak, Austin Ruse, Mary Eberstadt,
William Saunders, James Schall, Michael Uhlmann, Hadley Arkes) 273
2. Ralph McInerny (Robert Royal, Michael Novak, Bruce Fingerhut, John O’Callaghan) 286
3. “A Nobel Heart: Joe Sobran,” Robert Royal 294
4. “A Faithful American, Avery Dulles,” Robert Royal 297
5. “R. Sargent Shriver,” George J. Marlin 300
6. “The God-Haunted Christopher Hitchens,” Francis Beckwith 303
7. “Bob Bork’s Lingering Presence,” Hadley Arkes 305
8. “Michael Schwartz: Son of Thunder,” Austin Ruse 309

Contributors 311

Table of Contents