Few incidents offer a better snapshot of modern discourse than the recent exchanges surrounding ordo amoris. That Latin phrase can be translated as “the order of love,” a concept which has had currency in Christian theology since it was formulated in late antiquity by St. Augustine, and was further refined, almost a millennium later, by St. Thomas Aquinas. In the 20th century, [...]
Victor Penney: Do you ever read T-shirts, hoping to unlock the deepest mysteries of life, faith, and philosophy? Yeah, me neither; but that’s how my life goes sometimes. I once saw a black tee with the phrase “Pro-Good Things” and “Anti-Bad Things” emblazoned on the front, and I’ve embraced the slogan ever since as a lens for analyzing politics. If you want [...]
Samara Douma: Ultrasound technology has advanced beyond the classic black-and-white 2D (two-dimensional) imaging to offer clearer and higher-quality images. Three-dimensional imaging, as the name suggests, displays a 3D image of the child, making their facial features distinguishable beyond an outline. A 4D ultrasound captures multiple 3D images and combines them to create a video of the child’s movement, possibly capturing a smile [...]
Samara Douma: Although the Bible never explicitly says that abortion is wrong, it does have a lot to say about how God values human life from conception. Many verses speak about how God formed us with a purpose from before we were born. In Psalm 139, David praises God for His omniscience and omnipresence not only in his life after birth but [...]
Unholy Kingdom: Religion, Corruption and Violence in Saudi Arabia Malise Ruthven (Verso, $46, $368) BBC editor Malise Ruthven has written an expose of Saudi Arabia, the Unholy Kingdom, the alliance between the House of Saud – the royal family that ruled modern Saudi Arabia since its founding – and extremist imams who he labels a “sectarian Islamic cult.” Their extreme Wahhabism has become [...]
The Baton and the Cross: Russia’s Church from Pagans to Putin Lucy Ash (Icon Books, $36, 384 pages) Journalist Lucy Ash has written a broadside attack on the Russian Orthodox Church and its relationship with Moscow, which inevitably focuses on how the Church provides ideological backing for Vladimir Putin’s regime. Ash, who has worked as a foreign correspondent in Russia for three [...]
Interim Staff: On May 15, the Supreme Court of Canada announced it would not hear the case of Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Mike Delgrande’s challenge to the TCDSB’s censure over his opposition adding gender identity and gender expression to the board’s code of conduct. In November 2019, during debate on amending the code of conduct – in contravention of Church [...]
Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, The Wickedest Man in Europe John Callahan (Princeton, $48, 315 pages): Bernard Mandeville was a self-exiled Dutch writer who found his work on the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Banned Books). The libertarian writer is most famous for The Fable of the Bees, a book which stood trial in 1723 in Middlesex [...]
On the Dignity of Society: Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Law Edited by Russell Hittinger and Scott J. Roniger (Catholic University of America Press, $52, 490 pages) Russell Hittinger and Scott Roniger have edited a compendium of Hittinger’s previously published articles on Catholic social teaching and natural law that is both scholarly and accessible. Collectively, the essays show that human dignity is [...]
From the editor's desk: From the editor's desk New York City-based Orthodox Jewish university, reversed its decision to permit an LGBTQ club, Hareni, from operating on campus. In March, the university, with campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx, agreed to official club status for Hareni. However, on May 9, in a letter to the school community, the university said that [...]
John Carpay: In Latin, the word secular simply means “of this world,” and neither affirms nor denies any “religious” doctrine as such. Over time, the word secular has come to mean “non-religious.” After more than four centuries of loyal devotion to Catholicism, Quebecers in the 1960s began the process of ejecting the Church from schools, universities, hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, unions, orphanages, [...]
Josie Luetke: The mistake was in believing Pierre Poilievre was our political saviour. From the sense of crushing disappointment amongst friends and family members in the wake of the 2025 federal election, you’d almost think the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is pro-life. Almost. April 28 was disappointing to me for another reason. At the Waterloo Catholic District School Board [...]
Donald DeMarco, Review: How We Got Here: A Guide to Our Anti-Christian Culture by Jonathon Van Maren (Christian Heritage Press, 311 pages, $25) Version 1.0.0 “Our world is utterly different from the one that existed just a few decades ago. But how did this happen? Why did everything change?” These words provide the focus of this important book. The author, Jonathon [...]
Rod Taylor, Special to The Interim: Editor’s Note: Christian Heritage Party leader Rod Taylor delivered these remarks at the Parliamentary Press Gallery on May 7. Greetings fellow Canadians. I’m Rod Taylor, national leader of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada. In the next few minutes, I want to propose—to our newly elected Prime Minister and the government he will lead . . . [...]
Paul Tuns: On May 8, white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to indicate that the Conclave had chosen a new pope. Cardinal Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, appeared on the balcony in St. Peter’s Square, have chosen the name Leo XIV. Much was made that Leo XIV is the first “American pope” but he has [...]