by Thomas Reese, S.J., NCR
Ross Douthat is a thoughtful and articulate conservative who converted to Catholicism in his teens and now writes for The New York Times. He infuriates many of my progressive friends, but I usually find his writings interesting and thought provoking even if I often disagree with him.
This month, First Things has published his 2015 talk, “A Crisis of Conservative Catholicism,” which is a thoughtful address to conservative Catholics in the era of Pope Francis. He is attempting to help conservatives cope with the changes happening in the church today.
I hope I will be forgiven for entering this intraconservative conversation. Although no one today would label me a conservative, I was raised in the conservative church of the 1950s, entered a conservative Jesuit novitiate in 1962 before the Second Vatican Council, and had a very difficult time making the transition to the post-Vatican II church.
In short, I have some sympathy with what conservatives are experiencing today because I went through a similar experience in the late 1960s.
For another view, see “Ross Douthat’s Erasmus Lecture” by Michael Sean Winters, which I did not see until after I wrote this column…