Clothes should focus us on our dignity. Clothes direct people to our faces and therefore foster personal relationships. Clothes have a moral, not just a practical purpose. A good question for dress, then, is whether it is “personal” or objectifies us.

And what about “polite”? We think of the word today as meaning, more or less, mannerly. A polite person is somebody with manners; somebody who has the kindness to say please and thank you. But in origin the word is closer to polish, with the sense that the polite person is a sort of gleaming silver teapot. From its Latin roots (politus, the past participle of polire, to smooth or polish) through its emergence in Middle English and well into the 1700s, the word meant a thing buffed up or cleansed or even organized, although other meanings also emerged. So it always is with important words.

We believe that the Church is an “instrument” of “the unity of the whole human race,” but Catholic Twitter would seem to profess otherwise. Catholic social media as a whole can often seem like a hotbed of division, calumny, and rancor. This state of affairs shouldn’t be surprising given the amount of heretical ideas and schismatic solutions floating around ecclesiastical spheres. But what then can be done? Should we censor ourselves then and only speak about non-divisive issues? Not if we are going to be faithful to the Truth of the Gospel.

As we start enjoying vernal and summer evenings, the great Canadian barbecue season has arrived. As Catholic gentlemen, we can partake and share such an important culinary and social tradition to renew and foster bonds, friendships and Catholic values.

The following is a guest post by Jason Craig, Executive Director of Fraternus. Vanity turns us in on ourselves, like all sin. But in the case of the superficial or vain “gentleman” we are turned inward with the false image of being a man for others, a vanity more pitiable than others. The gentleman, after […]

Hello Everyone! My name is Dominic Cassella (aka The Hound), I am one of the Co-Founders of the Catholic Dormitory, and I would like to thank Sam for inviting me to be an occasional writer for the Catholic Gentleman. The list below was originally posted on the Dormitory, but I believe it needs to be spread around a […]

Technology is apart of our lives like never before. We now carry in our pockets the ability to watch breaking news from around the world, see Aunt Erma’s cat in Alabama, or share pictures of our culinary adventures on Instagram. While this technology is incredible, it can be a mixed blessing. The Good The printing […]