The Art of Mary, Assange in a Manger, and sacrilege at the Smithsonian

One of my favorite religious historians, Robert Orsi, has gotten into some hot water with R. R. Reno over at First Things. Orsi wrote this brief statement regarding the “Contending Modernities” project at Notre Dame University. Reno responded here and then again here. It seems to me Reno is questioning who gets to decided what counts as Catholic Studies and just what kind of Catholics can do it.

Mary, in the Glass Coffin of the Museum moves between the spiritual and the artistic and back again.

Peter Berger writes about The Social Mission of the U.S. Catholic Church by Father Charles Curran.

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange is the newest addition to the Naples nativity scene. Look for a dump of classified documents from St. Luke’s Gospel in the near future.

Video: National Portrait Gallery’s director on ‘sacrilege’ and the controversial Hide/Seek exhibit