By Lyle Dunne

Recently my wife and I had a rare expedition to the cinema. After a debate about whether to see The Avengers in order to catch up with the pop-culture references whizzing about our household (and in truth to see what the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had done with the comics of our childhood), we ended up with a classic compromise: we went to see The Way, a sensitive film about human relations, feelings and stuff.

First, a word to the trusting: Read no farther, just go and see it.

Read more on Il Camino…

By Christopher S. Morrissey^*| Catholic World Report |May 10, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI has observed that “Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions: it’s a positive option. It’s very important that we look at it again because this idea has almost completely disappeared today. We’ve heard so much about what is not allowed that now it’s time to say: we have a positive idea to offer … I believe we need to see and reflect on the fact that it’s not a Catholic invention that man and woman are made for each other, so that humanity can go on living: all cultures know this.”

Whit Stillman’s new film, Damsels in Distress, offers one of the most positive film endings in recent memory. What most reviewers of the film have neglected to mention is how the film makes a subtle suggestion about authentic Catholicism as a positive, counter-cultural option in the face of dominant cultural trends.

Read more on The Decline of Decadence…

We publish an important letter from the Superior General of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay, together with two other members of the Society’s General Council, First Assistant Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and Second Assistant Fr. Alain-Marc Nély.  The letter is dated April 14, 2012 and has been addressed to the other SSPX bishops Tissier de Mallerais, Williamson, and De Galarreta.

Read more on Fellay argues case for reconciliation with Rome….

By Susan Gibbs | US Ordinariate.Org | May 9, 2012

The new U.S. ordinariate for Anglican groups entering the Catholic Church achieved a milestone on May 8, 2012 when The Reverend Eric Bergman of Scranton, PA became its first priest.

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established by Pope Benedict XVI on January 1 in response to repeated requests by Anglican groups and clergy who were seeking to become Catholic. The ordinariate is similar to a diocese, though national in scope.

Read more on American Ordinariate gets its first priest…

^{By Dr John Lamont*}

^{Support for abortion is one of the mysteries of our times. By support for abortion I mean a range of activities that include presenting abortion as morally acceptable, opposing legal restrictions on abortion, trying to make it easily available, encouraging it as a choice, pressuring or coercing women into having abortions. Everyone can see how widespread such support is, in the form of propaganda carried out through the media, political activism, government policies of various sorts.}

Some forms of this support are not hard to explain. They result from the actions of rich and powerful elements of society, that see abortion as promoting their interests. Keeping down the population of Third World countries, and of non-white communities within First World countries, are more or less clearly acknowledged motivations for the promotion of abortion by U.S government policy and by organizations like Planned Parenthood, which is funded by rich American men. More generally, abortion is supported because of its function in sustaining our secular capitalist society. It helps to ensure the availability of women as a docile and exploitable part of the labour force, by enabling them to avoid the encumbrance of children. It facilitates male sexual irresponsibility and exploitation of women. This facilitation plays an important role in sustaining the ethos of instant gratification that is the economic motor of our consumer society.

Read more on Abortion and the culture of death…