On September 19, 1870, troops of the new Kingdom of Italy surrounded the city of Rome, which at the time was ruled by Blessed Pius IX, styled by his loyal people Il Papa Re, the Pope-King. Pius had refused entry to the Italian army and gave orders for his soldiers to resist the...
Lent calls us to reflect on sin – my sin, your sin, the nation’s sin, the church’s sin, the world’s sin. Sin may seem attractive when we’re committing it, but afterwards, we often would rather not think about it, examine it, nor humbly admit it. Because doing so brings us to the...
In today’s episode, I had a great conversation with Dr. Joseph Stuart about a kind of obscure document from Pope Francis from last year about the renewal of the study of Church history. Joseph and I talked about the ways that ideologies within the Church, both progressive and traditional, misuse history for their...
Recent videos uploaded to YouTube have revealed that on March 20, 2025, Bishop Joseph Strickland, emeritus of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, celebrated a public Mass at Mary, Mother of the Light Maronite Catholic Church in Tequesta, Florida. The Mass was followed by a reflection delivered by Strickland and a dinner in the...
I’m pleased to announce the launch of my latest book “The Unknown Modern Side of St. Pius X“! In this book, I seek to present a different perspective on Pope Pius X, since this pontiff has been so misunderstood and even used to fuel opposition to the Second Vatican Council and Pope Francis....
Wherefore, as appears from what has been said, Christ instituted in the Church a living, authoritative and permanent Magisterium, which by His own power He strengthened, by the Spirit of truth He taught, and by miracles confirmed. He willed and ordered, under the gravest penalties, that its teachings should be received as if they were His...
Already posted in this series: Part One; Part Two I am troubled now. John, mystic among Evangelists, treats of the Agony’s psychological inner content only as a pericope within the context of Palm Sunday and the entry in Jerusalem, Jesus having been anointed at Bethany beforehand with costly perfume after the raising of...
We are all familiar with the parable of the prodigal son, so I would like to focus on just a few key points from this text to bring out its radical nature. The younger son, as we all know, begins to treat his father as if he were dead by demanding his share...
I read the recent article in Catholic World Report on Amoris Laetitia by Christian Brugger and Fr. Peter Ryan, S.J. with interest. Pedro Gabriel has written a detailed and convincing response to the criticisms of Amoris Laetitia provided by Brugger and Ryan. In the present article, I don’t intend to repeat the points...
Through the Church—the sacrament of God’s infinite love—her Scriptures, her Tradition, her prayers, and her liturgies, people can encounter the living Christ and experience his love, healing, and transformative grace. But what happens when the men and women tasked with mediating God’s grace, appointed to preach God’s word and preside over the sacraments,...
There’s something that many right-wing Catholics—especially those who fiercely oppose Pope Francis—don’t seem to understand about people like me: we were once part of their world. We admired the same Catholic figures, consumed the same media, and shared the same hopes for the Church. We followed Bishop Robert Barron, Archbishop Charles Chaput, Scott...
On March 19, Dr. Christian Brugger and Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ, “celebrated” the ninth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia with an article that feels less like a fresh analysis and more like a time capsule from 2017. I confess that, when I started reading it, my first reaction was to double-check the time stamp. For a...
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