Where Peter Is

The Towers and the Church

(Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Many years ago, I wrote a long reflection on the tragedy and its implications for Godspy. After discussion with our editorial board, I had intended to update it and republish. On reading it again, however, I found that what I had written was not only the still-meaningful...

Quod a nobis (1568): Pius V on the Roman Breviary

Editor’s note: Quod a nobis, promulgated by Pope St. Pius V on July 9, 1568, revised and promulgated the Roman Breviary following the Council of Trent. Two years later, Pius V issued Quo primum, which performed a parallel role for the Roman Missal. Quod a nobis is much less familiar, but it is an...

Magnifica Humanitas Study Group

As God’s people enter the Promised Land, Moses presented the choice ahead of them: “I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live” (Deut 30:19). Similarly, Pope Leo begins his first encyclical by presenting us with the choice we face...

A Generation of Heretics

We are all familiar with the passage from the Book of Habakkuk that seems to have been a favorite of St. Paul (he cites it in three different letters – or four, for anyone who credits the Letter to the Hebrews to him): The righteous live by their faith. In Lumen Fidei,  Pope...

A Chapel in the Rain: A Reversion Story

A nice surprise in the mail from Poland today: my faith reversion story, “A Chapel in the Rain,” is featured in the September–October issue of Rycerz Młodych, a Catholic magazine published by the Conventual Franciscans at Niepokalanów, the “City of the Immaculata” founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. I wrote about how I chose...

From Sacramento to the End of the World

Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto issued a canonical warning on June 1, 2026, to retired Deacon David Leatherby Jr. of his diocese. In the decree, the bishop said he had been informed that Deacon Leatherby was cooperating with illicit Masses celebrated in nearby Placer County by his son, Jeremy Leatherby — excommunicated for schism...

Benedict Was the Outlier on Liturgy

Pope Leo XIV’s general audience on Wednesday clarified something that many conservative and traditionalist Catholics have been unwilling to face: the pope believes both that the liturgical reform is a good thing and that the reforms carried out following the Second Vatican Council are “firmly rooted in the living tradition of the Church.”...

Beyond Left and Right: Fidelity to the Magisterium

We live in an age increasingly suspicious of objective truth and universal moral authority. In a culture shaped by postmodern thinking, truth can become intensely personal — something determined less by what is true than by what I believe to be true. Social media has amplified this tendency, giving everyone a platform, an...

“American Martyr” – The Relevance of Bl. Stanley Rother

Yesterday, “American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story,” a documentary produced by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, was released in U.S. theaters. The film focuses on the life and tragic death of Okarche, Oklahoma native, Blessed Father Stanley Rother, who was martyred in 1981 during the Guatemalan Civil War. Narrated by actor Martin Sheen,...

Peter’s Faith and Christ’s Promise

The Gospel passage from this past Sunday, Matthew 16:13–20, told the famous story of Jesus asking the apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds in turn by giving him a new name and a mission: “You are Peter,...

Pope Leo’s Vision of the Church

Last fall, Pope Leo published his first major teaching document, the Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te. This document has primarily been presented as a moral exhortation for Christians to better serve the poor. While this isn’t untrue, I think Pope Leo’s inaugural teaching letter is much more. In Dilexi Te, Pope Leo presents us...