Hold the Best of two worlds in your hands – a print piece of cyberspace! For years, either as a subscriber to the Bellarmine Forum magazine or as a follower of the Bellarmine Forum website, you’ve learned that we present an ever-faithful yet unique, thought-provoking take on matters concerning the Church. While the magazine presents a studious approach to our topics (Social Teachings in 2012, Vatican II in 2013, and the Right to Life in 2014), the website holds out the gut response to the news of the day, whether about the election of a new Pope or a government education plan that stinks. Questions answered on the fly: Why is Pontius Pilate mentioned in the Creed? Why does the devil seem so powerful today? What’s happening to the parishes that they are shriveling up? The Best of the Bellarmine Forum is the ultimate crossover between both venues. These articles in Best were selected based on high readership. Several authors have written for our magazine. Some topics in these pages seem quirky – Baseball Cards Without Bubble Gum, and My Last Ten Burials/Funerals With ‘Fr. Strangelove, ’ yet both point out profound truths on the abortion mentality. Others are short and to the point, like Arthur Hippler’s Confusions about Social Justice. Don’t let the quick wit fool you into thinking these articles are thin – read in these pages the best understanding of Pope Francis and we said it the first day he was pope! Read the same authors who warned about CCHD 15 years ago! All are worth the read; after all, it is truly the Best of the Bellarmine Forum and those associated with it! Grab this printed copy because it looks great, feels good in the hand, and will surely start conversations on topics you love to discuss. Easier than sending a link, handing someone a copy of a printed book is the best way to get them to consider an idea – especially when it is as fun and attractive as this one! Topics in this issue: - My last ten burials/funerals with Fr. Strangelove …or How I stop worrying and learned to love the (Demographic) Bomb, NOT! by Fr. Timothy Sauppe - KABOOM! The Literary Finale of Pope Benedict XVI was not his abdication. by John B. Manos - Jesus wasn’t good enough for them either, Pope Francis, S.J. by John B. Manos - FIRST HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS - Why People Don’t Get Pope Francis: He’s Too Traditional by John M. DeJak - No Holiness In Dissension From the Pope by John M. DeJak - Explaining Common Core: And why you don’t want this in your schools by Stephanie Block - A Little Catholic Education History: Getting Alinsky into the Catholic Parish by Stephanie Block - Until the Choir Sings Amen - One Easy Secret to a Happy Death by John B. Manos - The Church and Politics by Stephanie Block - From Under the Rubble…A Bang and a Whimper by Christopher Manion - Confusions about Social Justice by Arthur Hippler - Why Pontius Pilate is in the Apostles Creed, not Judas or the Jews. Gird your loins for the answer. by John B. Manos - The Two Standards: Truth Incarnate or The Father of Lies. by John B. Manos - Needed: Catholic Cab Drivers and Bartenders by John M. DeJak - Baseball Cards Without Bubble Gum, 20 Years On by John M. DeJak - What Really Killed the Catholic Church in America by John B. Manos - Fr. Hardon: Three reasons why the devil is so strong today. by John B. Manos
