Catholic Unscripted Newsletter #14
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Now — here’s what mattered this week.
🗞️ This Week on Catholic Unscripted
1️⃣ The BBC, Trump, and the Shattering of Public Trust
📺 Article: The BBC, “Truth,” and the Rise of a Post-Reality West
🔗 Read here
This week the BBC edited a Trump clip to make it look like he was calling for violence — and Trump has threatened to sue. But the deeper story is not Trump.
It’s what happens to a society when its national institutions no longer even pretend to tell the truth.
We explore the cultural unravelling at the heart of the West’s crisis of trust — and what it means for Catholics trying to live honestly in a dishonest time.
2️⃣ Deep Dive with Dr. Sean Walsh: Müller, Barron, Rahner, and the Battle for Theology
🎧 Interview: Why Jesus Is the Only Answer
This conversation goes straight to the heart of the Church’s intellectual crisis.
Dr. Sean Walsh helps us unpack the Müller–Barron exchange — a critique of Rahner’s transcendentalism, a defence of Balthasar’s realism, and a warning about the rise of new Gnosticism in modern culture.
Nietzsche, Ratzinger, the Incarnation, gender ideology, voluntarism, and the metaphysical foundations of Christian faith — it’s all here.
A genuinely rich philosophical episode.
3️⃣ Liturgical Clarity From Pope Leo XIV? A Week of Clues, Signals & Shifting Narratives
📰 Analysis: Beyond the Battle Lines: Leo XIV’s Emerging Liturgy Strategy
🔗 Read here:
Several seemingly unrelated events came together this week — and Mark pulled the threads into a clear picture.
What is Pope Leo really doing with the Traditional Latin Mass?
What is he signalling, and to whom?
And where might this all be heading?
A must-read for those trying to make sense of the rapidly changing liturgical landscape.
4️⃣ Michael Hichborn on the Misuse of Catholic Funds
🎥 Interview:
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Michael Hichborn of The Lepanto Institute joins us to discuss his latest investigation into how U.S. bishops are spending lay money — and some of the findings are disturbing.
A sober and necessary conversation about accountability, stewardship, and renewal.
5️⃣ The Jubilee Dinner: What the Pope’s Guest List Reveals
🗞️ Article: Does the Jubilee Story Reveal Pope Leo’s Strategy?
🔗 Read here:
The fallout from the Pope’s Jubilee meal continues.
What message was intended?
What message was received?
And what does it tell us about the tensions in the current pontificate?
We examine the symbolic politics and the theological undercurrents.
6️⃣ Scotland & Sex-Selective Abortion — A Moral Line Crossed
✍️ Katherine Writes:
🔗 Read now
Scotland is moving toward accepting abortion explicitly chosen on the basis of a baby’s sex.
Katherine’s reflection is searing — a cultural warning flare about relativism, the erosion of conscience, and the quiet return of a eugenic mindset.
7️⃣ Robert Cassidy: Homosexuality, Desire, and the Church’s Consistent Moral Teaching
📖 Feature Essay:
🔗 Read here
One of the most thorough, charitable, and intellectually serious treatments of homosexuality and Catholic teaching published anywhere this year.
Clear, pastoral, uncompromising, and deeply needed.
8️⃣ A Classic Two-Way Discussion
🎥 Video:
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Mark and Katherine went “old school” this week — responding to stories that caught their eyes, offering commentary, laughter, and (occasionally) exasperation.
9️⃣ Catholic Education & the Future of the Faith – Conversation with Dr. Peter Kwasniewski
🎥 Interview:
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A rich discussion with one of the most articulate thinkers on tradition, liturgy, and the intellectual formation of young Catholics.
A hopeful and constructive conversation in a difficult time for Catholic schools.
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