Jimmy Lai remains strongly rooted: first in his fervent Catholic faith, and second in his unshakable support of freedom. Read More… Hong Kong was once a beacon of opportunity, of democracy. It was a political refuge, a blip in a territory controlled munist China. Seemingly overnight, 7.5 million Hong Kongers have had their freedoms stripped from them by an oppressive Chinese regime intentsilencing any voice of dissent — and that doesn’t mean revoking the odd Twitter account. It means imprisonment...

Facebook changing its name to Meta will not change the fact that all social media platforms make promises they can’t keep. Read More… At this point, most have heard about Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal this fall detailing how Facebook knew about many of the downsides of its platform, yet chose to prioritize engagement. The documents outline, among other things, how Facebook introduced new reactions in addition to the Like button and then...

COVID and failures at international summits have caused Pyongyang to reverse economic reforms and openness to South Koran pop culture. The future is beginning to look a lot like his father’s past. Read More… Communism has spawned only one full-scale monarchy: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. On December 17, 2011, 70-year-old Dear Leader Kim Jong-il died. That very same day, Kim’s 27-year-old son, Kim Jong-un, was put forth as the “Great Successor” and surrounded by elderly “mentors” who were...

The arguments in Carson v. Malkin have been heard but no decision has yet been made. Will families in Maine receive equal access to funding for private religious schools? Will the religious use/status distinction be abolished? Or will the ghost of James G. Blaine raise its eerie head? Read More… Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Carson v. Makin. The appellants in this case, co-represented by the Institute for Justice and my...

In 2020, entrepreneur and Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai beat back an attempt to prosecute him for “intimidating” a pro-Beijing reporter during a Tiananmen Square Massacre vigil. The prosecution appealed, and has now lost, even as Lai remains in prison convicted on other charges. Read More… Hong Kong prosecutors lost their appeal against a magistrate’s decision in September 2020 that cleared charges against media tycoon Jimmy Lai on “intimidating a reporter from a rival newspaper,” according to the South China...

Mary’s call and response is a powerful reminder of how Advent calls us to model her in humble obedience and service, whatever our vocation. Read More… We arrive at the Christmas stable. We have prepared. The Christ child e to us—Immanuel. We begin by taking a step back. The candle that is lit for the final Sunday of Advent reminds us of Mary, the one who brings the Lord into the world. The Protestant Reformers reacted against Catholic overemphasis on...

Newspaper publisher Lai and six colleagues were charged with printing, publishing, and selling “seditious publications,” this after being convicted on a variety of charges for their anti-Beijing, pro-freedom activities. Read More… Prominent Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, along with six of his former staff members, were charged by prosecutors with an additional National Security Law (NSL) violation, this time regarding “seditious publications,” as part of their ongoing trial. Seventy-four-year-old Lai has already been convicted under the...

The Rev. Dr. Nicholas Chisongo is just one of many Acton fellows setting out to bring reform to the church and hope to the world. Hear what he has to say on the subject of church finance and canon law. Read More… For over 20 years, the Acton Institute’s Rome office has enjoyed a number of extremely impressive academic fellows as part of its prestigious scholarship programs offered to graduate students at pontifical universities. Aiding in the study of theology,...

The ultimate Christmas classic has proved over time to be both prophetic and bitterly realistic. Read More… My Christmas movies series has hitherto considered church (The Bishop’s Wife), work (The Shop Around the Corner), and family (Christmas in Connecticut), munities that constitute America. I’ll conclude with the most famous American Christmas fairy tale of all, Miracle on 34th Street (1947), in which merce, and even marriage are all in trouble, as they are today. The story is straightforward but unpredictable:...

The Big City can be a great place to lose yourself among a crowd, and too often lose your soul. Only love of another can help you find yourself again. Read More… Christmas movies tend to be sentimental, to emphasize the struggles that define our society and our souls, but ultimately they are hopeful and even joyful. Humanity triumphs at the end of the story—for evidence, read my series of essays on The Bishop’s Wife, The Shop Around the Corner,...