“I’m still converting!”
Years ago, my pastor took a group of men from my parish on a pilgrimage down to Mexico City, to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac Hill—where Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531—and...
Category: Feature
Jason Berry’s Powerful Testimony
Yesterday the New York Times published a short documentary by Emmy-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot about the veteran investigative reporter and author Jason Berry. Berry is one of the unsung heroes of the Church in the past half-century. Almost two decades...
St. Maximilian Kolbe: Imperfect Martyr
Today, August 14th, brings us the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of the two “martyrs of Auschwitz” along with St. Edith Stein. Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan who was interned in the infamous death camp for publishing anti-Nazi...
Pope Francis’s own words
Last month, PBS launched its second season of the documentary series In their Own Words, with the first episode focused on Pope Francis. It offers some interesting perspectives on the pope and commentary by figures such as NBC journalist Anne...
Pope Francis’s vision of synodality
For many Catholics, the word “synod” is still relatively unfamiliar. That’s all going to change very soon. This October, Pope Francis will kick off a 2-year journey in the C hurch that will begin at the local level and eventually...
Understanding Traditionis Custodes
If you feel lost in all the discussion over what Pope Francis did with the pre-Vatican II Mass (and why), here are two helpful podcasts from America Media to help you understand what’s going on. First, Colleen Dulle puts together...
Declare Saint Irenaeus a Doctor of The Church
When we list the most important theologians in the history of Christianity, many names quickly come to mind, including Jerome, Augustine, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Robert Bellarmine. Each of these figures has been rightly declared to be Doctors...
Rodrigo Guerra – The second-highest ranked layman in the Church
Pope Francis recently appointed our friend, the distinguished Professor Rodrigo Guerra López, as Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL). Guerra, a professor and philosopher from Mexico, is the founder of the Center for Advanced Social Research (CISAV)....
‘Needs more people experience’: How to start a moral panic
You don’t have to be gay to find yourself at the center of a moral panic in the Church, but it always helps. When I read the shocking story of the way mobile phone data mining had been used to...
Postcard #14: Compostela — The last days
This is the 14th installment in “Postcards from the Camino” by Gareth Thomas, a series of reflections on the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James in the cathedral of Santiago de...
Prophecy and the Centrality of Compassion
I have two Pope Francis quotes for you today, both regarding bishops, delivered by US papal nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre at the recent ordinations of two American bishops. Earlier today, reader Joseph Snearline shared with me Archbishop Pierre’s homily at...
Postcard #13: Le Puy – The first Santiago pilgrimage
This is the 13th installment in “Postcards from the Camino” by Gareth Thomas, a series of reflections on the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James in the cathedral of Santiago de...
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