Free Republic

Mythbusting: “African Catholicism is a Vatican II Success Story”Bishop Gregory Ochiagha, of Orlu Diocese in Nigeria, offering pontifical Mass in the old riteA recent episode of “Word on Fire” responds to Ross Douthat’s two NYT pieces on Vatican II and its failure with two arguments:Argument #1: To blame the collapse of Catholicism in the West on Vatican II is a “post hoc propter hoc” fallacy.Argument #2: The growth of the Church in Africa since Vatican II is entirely thanks to The Council.It hardly requires pointing out that the second argument commits the same fallacy.Nevertheless, this oft-repeated claim about Africa really...

Is Robert Barron a Bishop of Baal?Did God punish Elijah for destroying the prophets of Baal, as Bishop Barron suggests? John Zmirak has an answer.... The P.T. Barnum of the Catholic ChurchOne of the most blatantly opportunistic public figures in my church has been Robert Barron. When John Paul II and Benedict XVI were pope, he assiduously cultivated an image as a defender of traditional faith. He raised tens of millions of dollars from well-meaning believers who bought into that image, and got himself named a bishop. But as soon as Francis took power, Barron’s skin instantly changed color to...