Tyrant's Burn Libraries, Right? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.) from The Catholic Current

Tyrant's Burn Libraries, Right? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.)

7 minutes Posted Apr 8, 2026 at 7:24 pm.

Intro — Keeping up with disasters

The burning of Leuven library (1914)

Why tyrants hate libraries

Libraries: beauty, truth, goodness, memory

Libraries vs tyrants — identity and power

Book recommendation: The War That Ended Peace

A simpler way: act like it doesn’t exist

Illustration & host intro — Father Robert McTague

The quiet method: hiding the past

Changes to Holy Week liturgy

Loss of visceral worship experience

Reimagining the Church today

Neglecting earlier Catholic thinkers

Don’t make them get away with it — mother’s advice

Podcast invitation & closing prayer

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Show notes

Fr. Robert McTeigue reflects on the deliberate destruction of the University of Leuven's historic library in World War I as an example of how tyrants attack beauty, truth, memory and identity — and warns that a subtler modern tyranny simply acts as if the past never existed.

Watch on YouTube: Tyrant's Burn Libraries, Right?

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