Weekly Summary: 12/6/25
The week in review, from the perspective of a veteran Catholic journalist
Winter has definitely arrived here in New England. Immediately after the Thanksgiving weekend, temperatures plunged toward zero and we had our first significant snowfall.
For me, preparation for winter involved firing up our balky old tractor, to turn over the garden before the ground freezes— and also to allow access to the plow, which was stored behind the tractor in our garage. The plow sat in the uprooted garden while we mounted the plow on our pickup (always a bit of a struggle the first time of the season), and then when I tried to put the tractor back, it wouldn’t start. I tried one thing after another, unsuccessfully, while watching weather reports that predicted up to a foot of snow. Finally, just after I said that I had only one last idea on how to start it, the tractor chugged into life, I drove it back into the comparable warmth and safety of the garage, and we were officially ready for the storm. Which, predictably, dropped only 3-4 inches. But the truth is that I’m prouder (and more relieved) about coaxing that tractor to start than about anything else I did this week.
Still, I did accomplish a few things at my “real” work:
I explained why my novel is entitled Ghost Runner. Hint: it’s a baseball reference. Second hint: it is not a reference to newfangled Major League rule for extra innings: a development that I deplore.
I called attention to the fact that Pope Leo reversed a decision made by Pope Francis. It was a seemingly minor administrative move, but it clearly demonstrated that the Pope realizes his predecessor had failed to clear up Vatican financial scandals.
I explained Why I am not (quite, yet) a Traditionalist, in an essay for CatholicCulture that has drawn a good deal of attention. And there’s more coming; this was only Part I of my thoughts on the topic. Look for Part II coming this week.
I resumed my Substack Seminar on just-war theory, after a “semester break,” digging into the moral challenges involved in revolutionary warfare.
I teamed up with my wife Leila for the weekly Home Front podcast— again back in action after a break. I mentioned some aspects of the Pope’s trip to Turkey and Lebanon that deserve more attention. Leila spoke about the CDC’s new caution on vaccinations for children: a dramatic and welcome reversal of Uncle Sam’s cheerleading for vaccinations, and a reminder that parents should be alert.
Actually our podcast covered some issues that I also discussed elsewhere:
- The highlights of the papal trip, in a CatholicCulture post, and
- The federal government’s misleading propaganda about vaccination (in this case, for Covid).