The Portal September 2018 | Page 3

THE P RTAL September 2018 Page 3 P ortal Comment The Fragility of Orders Some thoughts by Ronald Crane “I think there’s an iron law built into the relationship between Christianity and modernity, Christian communities that maintain a strong sense of their doctrinal and moral borders survive and even thrive in modernity and post-modernity, while Christian communities whose doctrinal and moral borders become porous (and even invisible) wither and die.” This is a quote from one of America’s most prominent Catholic public intellectuals, George Weigel. It is Weigel’s answer to a question posed by The Tablet’s Christopher Lamb. It was published in The Tablet for 21st April 2018 in Lamb’s “View from Rome” column. The occasion was the launch of a book by Weigel, The Fragility of Order. Weigel’s words need to be taken seriously, as he has spent thirty-five years in Washington and Rome analysing the turbulence that characterises world politics, American public life, and the Catholic Church in the early twenty- first century. Of course, it is America, but as they say, “America coughs and the UK catches a cold”. The book is a collection of essays, in which Weigel reads such events as the First World War, the collapse of Communism, and the Obama and Trump presidencies through a distinctive cultural and moral lens, even as he offers new insights into Pope Francis and his challenging pontificate. In them, George Weigel brings into focus two key convictions—that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture—illuminate political and economic life, and the life of the Church, in ways not often appreciated or understood. Many of the chapters in this book originated in George Weigel’s annual William E. Simon Lecture, which since 2001 has become a major event in Washington, D.C. They are unique in their application of philosophical and theological perspectives to the issues of history and politics, enabling the reader to see current events in a deeper way. I am indebted to the Ignatius Press web site for these insights. In Lamb’s Tablet article he continues, “The same, the author (Weigel) argues, is true for Catholicism, which he says is ‘living’ in parts of the world that have ‘embraced the magisterium of John Paul II and Benedict XVI as the authoritative interpretation of Vatican II’, but dying where there is an attempt to make ‘Catholic-lite’ work”. To those of us in one of the Ordinariates, Weigel’s words certainly strike a chord. Are not these the very reason’s why we joined the Catholic Church in the Ordinariate in the first place? Not only do we need to take the words seriously, but we need to find ways of making them real and alive. The Fragility of Orders Ignatius Press - ISBN/UPC: 9781621642374 Find us on Facebook Click on the link on www.portalmag.co.uk Get knitting It is now time to get knitting. Seafarers often come from warm climates and find their time in the UK very cold, especially in the winter. Do please knit them some headgear. The pattern is on our website at www.portalmag.co.uk - go to resources, then to Woolly Hats.