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When Did David Letterman Stop Being Funny?

Deal W. Hudson June 15, 2009 The other night, I put a question to some friends: “Why isn’t David Letterman funny anymore?” No one disagreed with the premise, but we struggled to find an explanation while trying to recall what made him funny in the first place. The question was provoked by Letterman’s sleazy “joke” about Governor…
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Vatican Newspaper Editor Digs Deeper Hole

Deal W. Hudson June 18, 2009 In an interview published at National Review Online, Gian Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano, responded to his critics. Vian makes it clear that he doesn’t have a high opinion of writers, like me, who have taken him to task for his treatment of President Barack Obama: I think that if American Catholics could…
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The Good News about Our Bishops

Deal W. Hudson June 25, 2009 For those who may be lamenting the seeming resurgence of the Catholic Left in the Age of Obama, I would like to point out some good news: This year’s spate of bishops’ assignments have been quite heartening. Since the beginning of 2009, there have been ten appointments announced by…
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President Obama Meets with Catholic Journalists

Deal W. Hudson July 3, 2009 Yesterday, President Obama held a 45-minute meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House with some members of the Catholic press. According to the Catholic News Service, those presently included writers from National Catholic Reporter, America, Commonweal, Catholic Digest, Vatican Radio, as well as a (non-Catholic) religion writer from the Washington Post. Rev. Owen Kearns was…
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Why Catholics Should Oppose Sotomayor

Deal W. Hudson July 6, 2009 The confirmation of nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court justice is almost a certainty. She’s a woman, a Hispanic, and the pick of a popular president who leads the party that controls the Senate. Democratic leadership in the Senate is determined to complete hearings before the Judiciary Committee…
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Benedict XVI Tightens Up the Church’s Social Teaching

Deal W. Hudson July 7, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI’s third encyclical – Caritas in Veritate – arrived today containing 30,468 words: an introduction, six chapters, conclusion, and 159 footnotes. It’s not thrilling reading, even by encyclical standards, but as the latest papal statement on the Church’s social teaching, “Love in Truth” will be a work of lasting significance. Those…
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Did President Obama Mislead the Holy Father?

Deal W. Hudson July 16, 2009 In the late afternoon of July 10, President Obama met privately with Pope Benedict XVI for just over 30 minutes. According to official Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., “The president explicitly expressed his commitment to reducing the numbers of abortions and to listen to the church’s concern on moral issues.” On July…
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Three Misreadings of Caritas in Veritate

Deal W. Hudson July 7, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, was published on July 7. With the appearance of a new papal document, various factions in the Church, as well as some outside, eagerly attempt to score points on their own behalf. This is particularly true of Caritas in Veritate since both its length and…

