Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights: Of Rights and Rites

by Andrew Kuiper This is the third installment of Kuiper’s review: part 1 and part 2. For somewhat understandable reasons, the French Revolution has acquired a reputation for inaugurating an era of aggressive, and aggressively secular, revolutionary politics. Many religious conservatives, particularly Roman Catholics fond of Donoso Cortes, Joseph de Maistre, and the counter-revolutionary tradition… Read More Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights: Of Rights and Rites

Fallen Failsafes and a Revolutionary Modern Priesthood

by Clare McGrath-Merkle, OCDS, DPhil Editorial Note: Clare McGrath-Merkle, OCDS is a graduate of Notre Dame of Maryland University (B.A.), St. John’s College, Annapolis (M.A.), Washington Theological Union (M.T.S., with a certificate in Carmelite Studies), The Catholic University of America School of Theology and Religious Studies (A.B.D., spirituality studies), and the University of Augsburg, Germany… Read More Fallen Failsafes and a Revolutionary Modern Priesthood

Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

by Matthew Gaetano Recent events have brought to mind the stories of the injustices and violence of the original encounters of Christians with native Americans in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Dominicans Antonio de Montesinos (d. 1540) and Bartolomé de las Casas (d. 1566) spoke out against the unjust enslavement of these peoples, while… Read More Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

The Holiness and Authority of the Church in Francisco Suarez, S.J.

Holiness It should go without saying that this post won’t even approach a comprehensive take on this topic. Nevertheless, I think that Francisco Suarez’s (d. 1617) views on this topic are of interest because they indicate that the “goalposts” are not being moved as we address recent events and commentary about the Roman Catholic Church. … Read More The Holiness and Authority of the Church in Francisco Suarez, S.J.

Between Regensburg and Vatican II: Historical Light and Theological Development

A Review of On the Road to Vatican II: German Catholic Enlightenment and Reform of the Church by Eric J. Demeuse The 1541 Diet of Regensburg—the namesake of this forum—proved a significant dialogue between Catholics and Protestants. Essential agreement was reached on a number of still contentious issues, though lamentably these agreements came to naught.… Read More Between Regensburg and Vatican II: Historical Light and Theological Development

“Third Party” Catholic Reformers of the Eighteenth-Century: Between Jansenists and the Zelanti

by Shaun Blanchard This article seeks to introduce an often-overlooked group of Catholic reformers of the eighteenth-century. Traditionally mistaken for quasi-Jansenists of some kind, the “Third Party” was a loosely affiliated network of like-minded, moderate Catholics who strove for the reform of the Church, sought peace and toleration during intra-Catholic theological wars, and displayed an… Read More “Third Party” Catholic Reformers of the Eighteenth-Century: Between Jansenists and the Zelanti

Jansenism and Augustinianism on the Irresistibility of Grace

by Matthew Gaetano Pierre Bayle (d. 1706), the rather enigmatic Huguenot writer who had a profound influence on the Enlightenment, expressed considerable frustration with the fine distinctions that often features in scholastic theology, whether Roman Catholic or Reformed. The Regensburg Forum seeks to take those details seriously, as it talks about those Calvinists, Thomists, Jansenists, and others… Read More Jansenism and Augustinianism on the Irresistibility of Grace

Jansenism: A Rough Sketch of a Complex Phenomenon

by Shaun Blanchard In different times and places and to different people (people with various polemical purposes!), “Jansenism” has meant various things. Originally the appellation was clear: it meant someone with an attachment to the strict predestinarian theology of Cornelius Jansen, as expounded in his posthumously published book Augustinus (1640). But even aside from issues… Read More Jansenism: A Rough Sketch of a Complex Phenomenon