The Catholic Culture Podcast

This Ash Wednesday, following a note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, many American parishes did not distribute ashes in the customary way of smudging a cross on the forehead and saying one of two possible formulas to each recipient. Instead, as an ostensible anti-COVID precaution, they sprinkled ashes on the top of the head and said the formula once to the whole congregation. Today’s guest, Gail Finke, wrote a thought-provoking article, not so much on the appropriateness of changing the usual practice this year because of the pandemic, but on an attitude so often taken in discussing Ash Wednesday every year. There is a certain spiritual elitism which regards concern for the external rite, including the rare opportunity to explicitly witness to the faith in a public way, as the province of those of little or superficial faith, or even of the vain. If someone objects to a seemingly unnecessary change, he is said to be overly concerned with the inessential. Yet the experience of the past several decades has shown us definitively that the elimination of “inessential” devotions has had catastrophic effects on the faith of Catholics. External expressions of devotion are important. The little things which set Catholics apart are important. Constant change and disorientation are not good for the people of God. The assumption that those who object to it must have little faith is arrogant. The indifference to the reality that the large number who do have weak faith will easily fall away when denied the rites of the Church—“you don’t need to go to Mass, just make a spiritual communion”—is callous and legalistic. Links Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LYkXheSxHXs Gail Finke, “Are We Going to Throw Out Ash Wednesday Too?” https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/are-we-going-to-throw-out-ash-wednesday-too Thomas Humphries, “The Case of the Great Pandemic Liturgical Flip-Flop” https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-case-of-the-great-pandemic-liturgical-flip-flop/ Driving Home the Faith radio show produced by Gail www.sacredheartradio.com Ep. 84, Disobey Lockdown Now w/ Douglas Farrow and Andrew Busch https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/84-disobey-lockdown-now-douglas-farrow-andrew-busch/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Famous for his chanted performances of Beowulf in the original Old English, Benjamin Bagby is the closest thing you'll find today to an Anglo-Saxon bard. Bagby joins the show to describe how he reconstructed Beowulf as a sung tale, giving a demonstration of his Anglo-Saxon harp which is modeled on harps found in burial sites from over a millennium ago. He also discusses the recordings of the complete works of St. Hildegard of Bingen made by his ensemble, Sequentia. All music and video by Bagby and Sequentia used with permission.    Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uZLEM75RO_w   LINKS   Bagby's Beowulf site and DVD https://www.bagbybeowulf.com   Video of Bagby's full performance at 92Y https://youtu.be/2WcIK_8f7oQ    Sequentia https://www.sequentia.org   Featured piece by St. Hildegard, O Vis Aeternitatis, recorded by Sequentia from their album Canticles of Ecstasy https://youtu.be/_Vcv2HdApcs   This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BatWN05pP1I Catholic geneticist Daniel Toma is the author of Vestige of Eden, Image of Eternity: Common Experience, the Hierarchy of Being, and Modern Science. He joins the podcast to discuss what natural science, including the fossil record, can teach us about the hierarchy of being and the liturgical structure of all creation, with deified man as rational head of the physical cosmos bringing all material creation into union with God. Links Daniel Toma, Vestige of Eden, Image of Eternity https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/vestige-of-eden-image-of-eternity-toma/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4Uv7MvEHixg The Hillbilly Thomists, a bluegrass group entirely composed of Dominican friars, have just released their second album, Living for the Other Side. Percussionist Fr. Joseph Hagan, who happens to be a priest at Thomas's parish, joins the show to talk about the new album, the connections between bluegrass and the Apocalypse, and music as an expression of the Dominican mission of preaching. All songs used with permission. Links https://www.hillbillythomists.com/ Music video, "Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKDG9DF7mhA This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zkfJ-gSMdUg Today’s Catholic culture is marked by a profound and settled religious indifferentism. Among many Catholics, to say what the Church has always taught—that Jesus Christ is the one way to salvation—is considered offensive, or at best, rash. In certain countries, the bishops’ conferences have practically made a policy against seeking converts from other religions (or lack thereof). Catholics, ruled by fear of human respect and compromised by their own private sins, are finding more and more reasons not to proclaim Christ’s moral teachings as well. Ralph Martin, whose new book A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward is a comprehensive spiritual diagnosis of our present situation, joins the show to discuss the many factors contributing to religious indifferentism. These include theological doubts about whether anyone really goes to hell (thanks, Balthasar), the therapeutic culture which has lost any sense of sin and justice, the focus on legalistic analysis of culpability rather than the need to change, and fear of human respect. Links A Church in Crisis https://stpaulcenter.com/product/a-church-in-crisis-pathways-forward/ Jeff Mirus’s review of A Church in Crisis https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/mapping-crisis-ralph-martins-blockbuster-book/ Renewal Ministries https://www.renewalministries.net/  The Fulfillment of All Desire https://stpaulcenter.com/product/the-fulfillment-of-all-desire/ Newman sermon, “Christian Reverence” on Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-christian-reverence/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3Czyd0XSEso The alarmists were right: ideas that were only a few years ago complacently dismissed as the perennial agitation of a few campus loonies are now pervasive in the corporate world, mass media and pop culture. Critical race theory, transgender ideology, the obsessive search for oppressive power relations in every aspect of life and every feature of language, the demand for all to be activists, shutting down of dissenting speech as violence: common sense or the gift of a solid Catholic formation will suffice for most who reject these ideologies. But some will want a more rigorous critique or a deeper understanding of the philosophical roots of radical leftist activism. To that end, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay have written Cynical Theories, a very helpful primer on the development of modern activism from 1960s postmodernist philosophy. In this episode, Thomas and political philosopher Darel Paul discuss the book, which tracks how postcolonial theory, queer theory, women’s/gender studies, critical race theory, and other activist fields have instantiated or adapted the following central principles and themes of postmodernism: Postmodern principles: Radical skepticism about the ability to know anything, cultural constructivism Society is formed of systems of power and hierarchies which decide what and how things can be known Postmodern themes: The blurring of boundaries, the power of language, cultural relativism, loss of the individual and the universal The episode concludes with a critique of Pluckrose and Lindsay’s prescription of a return to Enlightenment liberalism as a corrective to postmodernism. Contents [1:41] Reasons for discussing Cynical Theories [4:36] Evidence of postmodernist activist movements reaching the mainstream [10:58] What the book contributes to the discourse on woke ideology [15:00] Similarities and differences between postmodernism and Marxism [26:25] The core postmodern principles and themes [38:53] Policing speech as a tool of power rather than a rational means of communicating truth [47:58] The proliferation of postmodern principles into a number of activist fields [49:47] Defining one’s identity in terms of suffering and oppression [55:07] Tension between postmodern rejection of categories and the need to have categories to critique power relations; the emergence of queer theory; deliberate incoherence as liberation [1:01:06] Conundrum for LGBTQ activists: gain “normal” status or destroy idea of normality? [1:06:40] Gender theory vs. critical race theory on categories [1:18:50] Postmodernism as a class ideology? [1:24:17] The postcolonial critique of science; epistemic relativism [1:27:30] Critique of Pluckrose and Lindsay’s advocacy of a return to Enlightenment liberalism [1:32:51] Liberalism as an inherently negative and deconstructive philosophy [1:40:04] Postmodernism as an extension and/or consequence of liberalism [2:04:33] How to communicate truth to someone who believes language is merely power?  Links Pluckrose and Lindsay, Cynical Theories https://www.amazon.com/Cynical-Theories-Scholarship-Everything-Identity_and/dp/1634312023 Darel Paul, “Against Racialism” https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/10/against-racialism Darel Paul, “Listening at the Great Awokening” https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/17/listening-at-the-great-awokening/ Darel Paul, “The Global Community Is a Fantasy” https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-global-community-is-a-fantasy/ Darel Paul, From Tolerance to Equality https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481306959/from-tolerance-to-equality/ Ep. 61 on liberalism as an anti-culture with James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-61-liberal-anti-culture-vs-western-vision-soul-pt-i-james-matthew-wilson/ Ep. 18 on the vice of acedia manifested in our refusal to accept our given nature https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-18-acedia-forgotten-capital-sin-rj-snell/ Christmas episodes: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) film discussion w/ Patrick Coffin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/its-wonderful-life-1946-w-patrick-coffin/ CCP 59 – The Glorious English Carol https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-59-glorious-english-carol/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

All music by Thomas Tallis used with permission of the artists and labels listed below. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i-oMO9qqzKA As a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) composed sacred music for four successive English monarchs, starting with Henry VIII and ending with Elizabeth. Those were turbulent times in England, especially for a church musician. Those were turbulent times in England, especially for a church musician. Like his colleague (and probable pupil) William Byrd, Tallis was able to adapt his compositional style to meet the constantly shifting ideological demands of the regimes under which he served. Unlike the combative Byrd, who in his later years removed himself from court life and made a point of his loyalty to Rome, Tallis may have simply gone with the flow.  We don’t know for sure, because there is very little information about his life. Here to tell us what we do know is singer and scholar Kerry McCarthy, author of a concise new book on Tallis’s life and music in Oxford University Press’s Master Musicians Series (which also includes her book on Byrd previously discussed on this podcast). She enthusiastically discusses his music, his times, the foundation of polyphony in plainchant which was obliterated by the Reformation, the various compositional techniques of the time, and the nature of the medieval modes with which these composers worked. Links Kerry McCarthy, Tallis https://global.oup.com/academic/product/tallis-9780190635213 Hear Kerry sing with Capella Romana in a groundbreaking recreation of the acoustics of a sixth-century Byzantine cathedral! Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia: Medieval Byzantine Chant https://cappellaromana.org/product/lost-voices-of-hagia-sophia-medieval-byzantine-chant/ Kerry McCarthy discusses Byrd on this podcast: Pt. 1 https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-49-catholic-composer-in-queen-elizabeths-court-pt-i-kerry-mccarthy/ Pt. 2 https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-50a-catholic-composer-in-queen-elizabeths-court-pt-iikerry-mccarthy/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music heard in this episode Thomas Tallis: “If ye love me” performed by The Gesualdo Six, c/o Hyperion https://www.amazon.com/English-Motets-Gesualdo-Six/dp/B078X98G4B/ Video from their YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/yHe2FDlHHa8 “Lesson Two Parts in One” performed by Matthieu Latreille https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EsptIeArHI “Miserere nostri” (Tallis/Byrd), “In jejunio et fletu” performed by Alamire, c/o Obsidian https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H4OHXG/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp “Puer natus est nobis: Agnus Dei”, “Psalm Tunes from Archbishop Parker’s Psalter”, “Spem in alium” performed by Chapelle Du Roi, from their Complete Works of Tallis c/o Signum Records UK https://signumrecords.com Chapelle’s Du Roi’s Complete Works of Tallis available affordably in the US here https://www.amazon.com/Tallis-Complete-Chapelle-Du-Roi/dp/B005JWXA1K/ Ralph Vaughan Williams: “Fantasia on a Theme from Thomas Tallis” performed by Academy of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, dir. Neville Mariner https://www.amazon.com/Williams-Greensleeves-Tallis-Neville-Marriner/dp/B000004CVM/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z5jrU3JYnv0 In his Five Great Odes, the great French Catholic poet Paul Claudel (1868-1955) offers a cosmic vision in which man, in his contemplative and poetic capacity, stands as mediator between God and all creation. Man, in the image of God and even more in the headship of Christ, names all creatures, unites them in his heart, speaks for them and offers them back to God as unified whole of which man himself is a part: "I extend my hands to left and to right/so that by me not one gap should exist in the perfect circle of your creations." Poet James Matthew Wilson compares Claudel's cosmic and Catholic vision to that of Tolkien, and startlingly, to one of Tolkien's characters: "Claudel's Odes show him to be a new Tom Bombadil, who moves through the world without irony because he has already transcended the jaded and impoverished vision typical of the modern age and entered with joy into an experience of the universal and the eternal." This is an interview with Jonathan Geltner, translator of a new English edition of Claudel's Odes. Links Five Great Odes https://www.angelicopress.org/five-great-odes Episode mentioned: "Structure and Freedom" with Mark Christopher Brandt https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-33-structure-and-freedom-in-music-and-in-christ-mark-christopher-brandt/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H1_78eLjaB8 The trials of St. Anthony the Great (251-356 AD), as described in St. Athanasius's Life and the medieval Golden Legend, have been a favorite subject of Western artists since the Middle Ages. Anthony, a desert monk, was frequently assaulted by Satan, who when he could not win by normal temptations, sent his demons in the form of wild beasts, beautiful women, soldiers and even monks to torment and distract the Desert Father. Artists have long been fascinated with these episodes, finding in them an opportunity for the most outlandish feats of imagination. In this episode, Catholic art historian Elizabeth Lev traces the development of this artistic subject from the Middle Ages on, with special attention to the phantasmagorical work of Hieronymous Bosch. From Bosch we proceed through the intervening centuries to the modern era, where this theme was taken up again but perhaps not in the most edifying spirit. In this podcast (the YouTube version of which includes images of the paintings), the first 40 minutes or so are spent introducing the story of St. Anthony and examining some early medieval depictions as well as later ones which focus heavily on his traditional attributes. Then we take off with the increasingly complex depictions of Anthony's demonic trials, starting with Bosch, examine various early modern variations, and conclude with the nightmarish (yet spiritually distinct) visions of Max Ernst and Salvador Dali.  Links Zip file with all paintings shown in video https://www.catholicculture.org/images/commentary/anthonypaintings.zip Elizabeth Lev, How Catholic Art Saved the Faith https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/how-catholic-art-saved-the-faith Our audiobook of St. Athanasius's Life of St. Anthony https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-athanasius-life-st-anthony-full/ St. Anthony's life and legacy as one of the Church Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/anthony-desert-solitary-celebrity/ Elizabeth Lev https://www.elizabeth-lev.com Koin - Catholic event planning app http://www.meetkoin.com This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom, Humanis Dignitatae, begins by noting that its discussion of religious liberty “has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society” and so “leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.” This episode is about discovering what that traditional doctrine was and is. Our main source will be Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Immortale Dei, which is available in audiobook form on CatholicCulture.org. Thomas Pink guides us through a close reading of this document (with supplementary material from Libertas and Longuinqua). Here, and in the magisterium of other 19th-century Popes, we find a number of teachings on Church and State that have gone largely unmentioned since the Council, and which are sadly forgotten or even rejected by the majority of self-described conservative Catholics. The core point is that the State, like the Church, receives its authority from God. Therefore the State has a duty of obedience to God, obedience which cannot be arbitrarily limited to what can be known by reason, excluding revelation. So, Leo says, the State has duties to profess, protect and foster religion, and not just any religion, but the true Faith: “The Church, indeed, deems it unlawful to place the various forms of divine worship on the same footing as the true religion, but does not, on that account, condemn those rulers who, for the sake of securing some great good or of hindering some great evil, allow patiently custom or usage to be a kind of sanction for each kind of religion having its place in the State.” Other points discussed are these: Leo’s analogy comparing the relationship between Church and State to the harmony between soul and body. The evil consequences of the State’s indifference toward God and true religion. The authority of the Church to coerce the baptized in fulfilling their religious duties, and to have the State act as its agent (all the while remembering that the State has no authority of its own to regulate the supernatural good of religion). Leo’s condemnation of freedom of speech and opinion as commonly understood. It is clear that a docile and orthodox reading of Vatican II cannot lead us to dismiss prior teachings on Church and State. Yet this works both ways: Church teaching is is a unity, so when discussing these older teachings, we must also ask what is the nature Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty and how all of these teachings can be understood in light of one another. The key lies in the limited scope of Dignitatis Humanae, which from the outset intends only to address religious coercion by the State, and leaves the duties of the State towards religion untouched in both senses of the word. Though the Church’s teaching on religious liberty is much further from the ideals of the American Founding than many careless readers of Dignitatis Humanae have assumed, American Catholics can and must love their country. Therefore we close with Pope Leo’s friendly and encouraging words to the Church in America. Contents [3:09] The historical and theological context of Immortale Dei [7:52] True and false liberty [10:38] The two powers of Church and State; their directive and coercive functions [18:40] The State’s duty to profess, protect and foster the one true religion [24:06] Reasons for toleration of other religions; coercion of the baptized [34:15] Leo’s analogy of Church and State with soul and body [43:36] Separate sovereignties of Church and State interact; State can act as the “secular arm” [49:41] Obligations twd. religion of the State properly speaking, not just rulers as individuals [55:23] Consequences of the State neglecting God and religion [1:03:00] Dignitatis Humanae: drafting, intended scope, legacy, compatibility with tradition [1:20:50] Papal condemnations of freedom of speech and opinion [1:31:30] The Church’s move away from coercing baptized heretics [1:36:33] The importance of docility in accepting difficult teachings [1:41:49] Need for a synthesis of the whole magisterium on Church, State and religious liberty Links Audiobook of Immortale Dei https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pope-leo-xiii-immortale-dei-on-christian-constitution-states/ Text of Immortale Dei (On the Christian Constitution of States) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4916 Libertas (On the Nature of Human Liberty) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4885 Longuinqua (On Catholicism in the United States) http://catholic.net/op/articles/286/cat/1198/longuinqua.html Thomas Pink on Twitter https://twitter.com/thomaspink1 Thomas Pink, “Conscience and Coercion” https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio