Heinz-Joachim Fischer is a German journalist who studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and subsequently became a journalist writing for the prestigious German daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, … [Read more...]
Archives for 2009
Who is Benedict XVI?
POPE BENEDICT XVI: A PERSONAL PORTRAIT. By Heinz-Joachim Fischer; translated by Brian McNeil (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 481 Eighth Ave., Suite 1550, New York, N.Y. 1000, 2005), 213 pp. HB $19.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
The Disintegration of the Primitive Rite
Christian Initiation: Baptism in the Medieval West. By J.D.C. Fisher (Hillenbrand Books, 1000 E. Maple, Mundelein IL 60060, 2004; 1-847-837-4542), xvi +220 pp. PB. $24.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
A reprint of a 1965 edition first published in London, this work is sub-titled “A Study in the Disintegration of the Primitive Rite of Initiation.” This primitive rite integrated baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist into one ritual as the Ea … [Read more...]
St. Paul and St. Ignatius on Retreat
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES BASED ON PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. By Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Mich. 49502 [2004]), 235 pp. PB $20.00.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Most priests and religious make a retreat of some days each year, often eight. Those in the Jesuit tradition follow the lead of the Exercises of St. Ignatius. Every retreatant likes to spend considerable time during these days with … [Read more...]
Dynamics of the Exercises
LIKE THE LIGHTNING. The Dynamics of the Ignatian Exercises. By David L. Fleming, S.J. (The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 3601 Lindell Blvd., Saint Louis, MO 63108, 2004), xv + 191. PB $18.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
In his introduction Father David Fleming tells his readers: “I do not intend to write a commentary on the Exercises…I am not writing a ‘how to’ book…I hope rather to reflect on the Exercises as a unit in their integral makeup and in their ov … [Read more...]
Fighting for the Truth
REFLECTIONS OF A PRO-LIFE WARRIOR. By Robert J. Cetrulo, J.D. (Northern Kentucky Right to Life Educational Foundation, Inc., 1822 Madison Avenue, P. O. Box 1202, Covington, KY 41012), xiii + 246 pp. PB $12.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
What is a pro-life warrior? Mr. Cetrulo cites the example of St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen, as the model for leaders in the pro-life movement: “He gave up everything—family, fortune, office, and ultimately his he … [Read more...]
A Bishop to Imitate
HE SPARED HIMSELF IN NOTHING. Essays on the Life and Thoughts of St. John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R. Edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S. (St. Joseph’s University Press, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19131, 2003), 236 pp. HB $35 plus $4 for S&H.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Fr. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R. was the first U.S. male citizen to be canonized (1977) in the United State (beatification in 1863). St. Joseph’s Jesuit University in Philadelphia undertook to publish these nine essays to honor this devotee of J … [Read more...]
The Debate about Liturgy Continues
THE HISTORY AND THE FUTURE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY. By Denis Crouan, (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 2005), 324 pp. PB $19.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Debates continue about the present state of the liturgy in the Catholic Church and its future. Denis Crouan is President of Pro Liturgia, an organization interested in an authentic reform of the liturgy based upon the documents of the … [Read more...]
The Roman Question
ROME IN AMERICA: TRANSNATIONAL CATHOLIC IDEOLOGY FROM THE RISORGIMENTO TO FASCISM. By Peter R. D’Agostino (The University of North Carolina Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515, 2004), 315pp. HB 59.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
A crucial moment for the modern papacy was brought about by the “Risorgimento” (1848-70) which led to the confiscation of the papal states in order to reunite the Italian peninsula. Catholic belief, at least since the time of Constantine, he … [Read more...]
The Rabbi and the Pope
THE MYTH OF HITLER’S POPE: HOW POPE PIUS XII RESCUED JEWS FROM THE NAZIS. By Rabbi David G. Dalin (Regnery Publishing, Inc., One Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001), 209 pp., HB $27.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Few people will recall that 1965 was the year that Paul VI initiated Pius XII’s cause for canonization. As it turned out, it came at the beginning of a rhetorical guerre à outrance over the reputation of the former pope which, like some gr … [Read more...]
Maritain at the Cliff’s Edge
JACQUES MARITAIN: AN INTELLECTUAL PROFILE. By Jude Dougherty (The Catholic University of America Press, P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, Md. 21211, 2003), 128 pp. PB $21.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
The essays that comprise this volume reflect an understanding of Maritain’s life and thought that comes only from many years of reading and reflecting. If the essays were confined to Maritain’s thought, they would be interesting and inf … [Read more...]
Many signs of hope
Young And Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow’s Church. By Tim Drake (Sophia Press, Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108; 1-800-888-9344; 2004), 259 pp. PB $16.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
In the aftermath of dissenting theologians who question the authority of the Magisterium, in the wake of the scandal of Catholic annulments in America, in the prevalent culture of death endorsed by liberal Catholic politicians, and in the … [Read more...]
Frontier Convert and Apologist for the Church
THE TRUE CHURCH: THE PATH WHICH LED A PROTESTANT LAWYER TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. By Peter H. Burnett (Solas Press, P.O. Box 4066, Antioch, CA 94531, [2004]), xxx + 298 + viii + 420 pp. HB $39.95. (Available online through www.solaspress.com).
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This weighty tome (two volumes in one), originally published in 1860, is a frontier Apologia pro vita sua written by a lawyer who converted from a protestant movement, known as the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, to Catholicism while … [Read more...]
A Feast of High Theology
THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE LITURGY. By David Berger; translated by Christopher Grosz (Sapientia Press, 300 West Forest Ave., Ypsilanti, Mich. 48197, 2004), x + 127 pp. P8 $14.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This is truly a remarkable little book. In 113 modest-sized pages of text, the German Thomist David Berger offers us a feast of high theology, meditative reflection, and sharp critique. How many books offer a readable summary of St. … [Read more...]
Truth and Beauty
IN THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD: THE LIFE, FAITH, AND TEACHINGS OF JOSEPH RATZINGER, POPE BENEDICT XVI. By Marco Bardazzi (Rizzoli, New York, N.Y., 2005), 138 pp. PB $16.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Marco Bardazzi is an Italian journalist and the American correspondent of ANSA, an Italian news agency. He lives in New York City. This brief biography of Pope Benedict XVI is an easily readable story of his life told in chronological … [Read more...]
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