Parallel Debates

It's funny, because the people who have argued with me over Anglicanism vs. Catholicism and the people who have argued with me over the Spanish Civil War (like my latest Ex-Facebook-Friend, sadly) probably wouldn't like each other very much, but in a way the root of my stubbornness is the same: I frankly put a higher priority on Aesthetics than most people do. So, while I genuinely believe in the merits of Anglicanism, my love of Anglican worship & patrimony is impervious to Roman Catholic theological criticisms (whether of the Reformation or of the contemporary Episcopal Church or CofE), and while I genuinely believe that the right side won in 1939 and that Monarchy's superiority is not superficial, my gratitude to Franco for eventually restoring the Spanish monarchy is impervious to objections to his authoritarian tactics.

100 Years without German Monarchies

New article in German on why the abolition of monarchies has been a disaster for Germany and Europe. I relied on a friend's translation, which it would be too cumbersome to reproduce here, but if you don't read German, Google Translate may help.

https://www.kraut-zone.de/blog/2019/10/15/100-jahre-ohne-monarchie-100-jahre-verirrung-und-zerstrung

The Reactionary Dilemma

The central dilemma of any sort of counterrevolutionary cause, whether it's me and my fellow monarchists wanting to restore monarchies, distributists yearning for a more localist, agrarian, and organic society, environmentalists and animal welfare advocates appalled by factory farming and deforestation, "identitarians" and populists horrified by the demographic transformation of the West, traditionalist Catholics wanting to roll back Vatican II and bring back the Latin Mass, architectural traditionalists revolted by modernist buildings and cities, pro-lifers desperate to ban abortion, Christians dismayed by secularism, Brexiteers wanting Britain to be free from the European Union, or whatever it is that "Make America Great Again" was supposed to mean, is that even if we're right in principle that the way we'd like for things to be would be a more natural and satisfying way to live for many people, so many people today strongly disagree and don't see it that way that there's really no way to get back to where we want to be without massive division, anger, and even violence. That's one reason why the 20th century was so violent, and why fascism and Nazism happened: traditional civilised Christian patrician conservatism, which is what I would ideally like to identify with, was totally incapable of resisting Bolshevism, so those who hated the Russian Revolution felt compelled to turn elsewhere. I see no reason to hope that the 21st will be any better.

RIP Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (1921-2019)

The Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg announced that HRH Grand Duke Jean passed away early this morning. I am sorry to learn of the death of this model constitutional monarch and beloved father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Reigning from 1964 to 2000, he was the last surviving head of state who had fought in World War II. Grand Duke Jean abdicated on October 7, 2000, just over a week after I started my website in New York on September 29. Therefore his was the first royal reign whose end I "reported" on, as I now report on the end of his long life. Obituaries: European Royal History Journal, Telegraph. A state funeral will be held on Saturday May 4.

I think this four-generation photo from last summer captures the joy Grand Duke Jean took during his retirement in being surrounded by his family. Standing: Antonius Willms (b 1988) holding his son Zeno (b 2018), his wife (Zeno's mother) Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Nassau (b 1986), her father Prince Jean (b 1957).
Seated: Grand Duke Henri (b 1955), Grand Duke Jean (1921-2019), Grand Duchess Maria Teresa (b 1956).

The Church and The World

Christians often talk about issues where what the World wants and what the Church wants diverge. And I'm sure there are ways in which I'm guilty of siding with the World. But I honestly think what frustrates me the most is the areas in which the World and the Church seem to be aligned against me. Both the World and (since Pope Leo XIII) the Church tell me that it's acceptable for monarchies to be abolished and replaced by republics and that those who are sad about that just have to live with it, other issues being more important today. No. I don't want to. Both the World and (since the 1960s) the Church tell me that it's acceptable for the kind of music I love to be replaced by "music" I find disgusting and that those who don't like it have to be tolerant of others' preferences. No. I don't want to. In these two areas, at least, I insist that I'm right and the World and the Church today are both wrong. And I don't care how arrogant that makes me. I've made do with Anglicanism for almost 10 years now but sometimes I really wish I could found a new branch or denomination of Christianity that would be uncompromisingly both monarchist and musically traditionalist. I don't suppose it would have many members though.