On New Year’s Eve, some of the contributors and I put our heads together to try to determine the best pieces we published in 2021. Going all the way back to January, it was astounding to see just how much good, hard, quality work our contributors did, and on such a wide range of subjects. It goes without saying that this was our biggest year yet in terms of numbers, our fourth year in a row of tremendous growth.
For those new to the site or who are interested in looking at a fairly representative sample of the work we’ve done, a rather large sampling is below. There were so many (we had well over 500 posts this year) that we simply had to stop. (Maybe another contributor can put together a part 2…)
But first of all, I would like to share three series of articles by three extremely talented writers: a cloistered nun, a hermit, and a lay theologian. Each of them approached me with an idea for a series, and the results have been accessible, enjoyable, and spiritually uplifting. Our readers have benefited greatly from their experiences and insights.
The articles found at these series links are in reverse chronological order, so start from the bottom and work your way up:
by Sister Gabriela Hicks
A series about an ongoing struggle in the Carmelite order over the implementation of the Pope Francis’s reforms to women’s contemplative life. What are these reforms, how have they been received and implemented by the sisters, and how have the pope’s attempts to renew contemplative life become a new front in the war against Pope Francis?
by Adam Rasmussen
In each installment, Rasmussen assists readers in their understanding an aspect of Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, from the Second Vatican Council, promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 18 November 1965. He gives essential background to its teachings (including the controversies and debates leading up to the final document), and gives examples of how and where the teachings of Dei Verbum are applied.
by Gareth Thomas
“Postcards from the Camino” is a series of sketches on the theme of pilgrimage to the shrine of the Apostle Saint James (Santiago in Spanish) in Compostela. Pope Francis declared a double Holy Year 2021-2022 for pilgrims to the shrine. The writer, Gareth Thomas, is British but lives in Spain and sees European culture as reflecting centuries of shared Catholic tradition. Also, be sure to check out “The Camino Revisited,” when the author returned to the Camino in Summer 2021 and posted live updates over the course of two weeks.
The following is a large selection of our articles from 2021 on a wide range of issues and topics, by many talented writers, in no particular order:
Willing the Good: A survivor’s call for restorative justice
by Melinda Ribnek
(Trigger Warning) The survivor of a violent assault calls for restorative justice and the abolition of the death penalty
What’s Motivating the Co-Founders of Veritatis Splendor?
by Rachel Amiri
Vaccine Equity is a Human Right
by Adam Rasmussen
The most important human rights issue surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine
Write Less, Read More; Talk Less, Listen More
by Nathan Turowsky
Time spent suffering from chronic pain can mean a decline in productivity, but that time can still have meaning.
Venerable Augustus Tolton: A Black Priest who modeled Christ
by Efran Menny
‘Who do I ask?’ Transportation to Mass is an unrealized need
by JM Kraemer
On access to the sacraments for the disabled
Hope for Iraqis: A Chaldean Catholic Anticipates Francis’s Visit
by Mark Chamoun
A young Iraqi Catholic living in Canada reflects on the meaning of the pope’s historic visit to his people who are suffering in his war-torn homeland.
The Death of Pope John Paul I (Part 1)
In this video, David Lafferty and Mike Lewis dig into the questions and conspiracy theories surrounding the sudden death of Pope John Paul I.
The Death of Pope John Paul I (Part 2)
The thrilling conclusion
MLK’s dream and the great stumbling block
by Melinda Ribnek
by Nathan Turowsky and Meredith Dawson
Centuries before the 2019 Amazon Synod controversy, controversy and accusations of paganism swirled around another Christian devotion of indigenous people in Latin America.
The cultural garment of Filipino Catholicism
by Preslaysa Williams
I Remember: 9/11, Twenty Years Later
by Deacon Greg Kandra
The hour of the People: Pope Francis and the Post-Covid moment
by Austen Ivereigh
by Paul Fahey
Apologia liturgica: A Catholic life in six Masses
by Dr John Morrissey
An English doctor’s journey of conversion across different rites, languages, and cultures.
The Eucharist needs to be more inclusive
by Angela Rasmussen
The Church must be attentive to the needs of celiac Catholics.
Viganò’s Pendulum: A Roman summer night’s dream
by Gareth Thomas
The latest saga surrounding the rogue archbishop takes the form of an Umberto Eco novel
Cardinal Bernardin’s true legacy
by Steven P Millies
Don’t believe the conspiracists.
The Chair of Saint Peter, the Rock
by Mike Lewis
The Seamless Garment must be properly understood
by Pedro Gabriel
Gregorian chant and the post-Vatican II liturgy
by Mike Lewis
Is Catholic teaching against the death penalty optional?
by Mike Lewis
Untangling Sex from Same-Sex Love
by Patric Peters
Personal Reflections on ‘Traditionis Custodes’
by Deacon Bill Ditewig
by Dawn Eden Goldstein
by Mike Lewis
Learning to accept life with glaucoma.
Traditionalism’s flawed approach to the Magisterium
by Adam Rasmussen
What Fr. Chad Ripperger and other leading traditionalists don’t seem to understand about authority and doctrinal development.
A collaborative project led by Paul Fahey. A great resource for your church or book group to study Pope Francis’s encyclical on human fraternity.
Catholic Transgender Ministry: People, Not Ideologies
by Nathan Turowsky
Catholic Media and Critical Thinking
by Mike Lewis
“This is a movie about people who think they’re living in a movie.”
Slander, EWTN, and Cannibalism
by Mike Lewis
Pope Francis said EWTN does “the work of the devil.” They responded. Sort of.
by Rachel Amiri and Mike Lewis
A response to Michael Brendan Dougherty’s claim in the New York Times that traditionalism and Catholicism in union with the pope are not the same religion. Maybe he has a point.
by Mike Lewis
Mike Lewis offers a tribute to his special-needs sister after her unexpected death in May.
A Catholic moral panic, two years on
by Mike Lewis
A retrospective on the story behind the unfounded “paganism in the Vatican” hysteria of October 2019.
Sadly, Traditionis Custodes was necessary
by Rachel Dobbs
A former traditionalist looks back at the troubling ideologies of many of those involved in the movement surrounding the ancient liturgy she loves.
My Catholic circle is trying to Stop the Steal
by Marissa Nichols
The radicalization of a Catholic Homeschooling Moms’ email list.
Pope Francis, Fake News, and Post-Truth Journalism
by Austen Ivereigh @austeni
“You can learn far more about the thinking and the insights of this papacy in one article on Where Peter Is than in weeks of programming by EWTN.”
What can we offer to the world?
by Mike Lewis
How is the Catholic Church to respond to a world and culture that have changed?
Pope Francis understands Fr. Martin—Do we?
by Rachel Amiri
What does the pope see in Fr. James Martin’s ministry that many US Catholics don’t?
Mel Gibson: The Man Without a Pope
by Mike Lewis
Why is the world’s most famous sedevacantist hanging around with Fr. James Altman?
What I Learned When Vaccine Protesters Came to My Parish
by Rachel Amiri
Catholic media and the circus of homophobia
by David Lafferty
Love is the most urgent political issue
by Steven P Millies
US Catholics increasingly at odds with Church teaching on immigration
by Anne Murphy
by Angela Rasmussen
by Nathan Turowsky
The Traditions that Make Void the Commands of God
by Malcolm Schluenderfritz
Wrestling with Chesterton’s Antisemitism
by Dawn Eden Goldstein
by Mike Lewis
No, Native Graves Weren’t Good, Actually
by Joshua Polanski
We Must Reform and Renew Catholic Apologetics
by Matt Kappadakunnel
by Daniel Amiri
Stop Berating the Laity Over In-Person Mass
by Marissa Nichols
Empty Churches and the Secularization Excuse
by Massimo Borghesi
by DW Lafferty
The Church must offer an apology to the Canadian Residential Schools scandal.
The Church’s Mission and the Allure of Neo-Christendom
by Paul Fahey
The Not-So-Sexy Theology of the Body
by Rachel Amiri
The Synod, Christian dialogue, and a lesson on hope
by Joseph Snearline
God does not judge us our grumblings
by Casey Stanton
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” (John 6:28)
The Good Shepherd lays down his life
by Fr. Alex Roche
by Fr. Michael Najim
by Fr Satish Joseph
by Fr Satish Joseph
The Epiphany: Into the Ordinariness of Life
by Fr Satish Joseph
Summorum Pontificum: An Unforced Error
by Gary Campbell
A former SSPX priest responds to Pope Francis’s restrictions on the Tridentine Mass.
OCD, Scrupulosity, and the Journey of Faith
by Kevin Ganey
Meeting Pope Francis: Memories of an Encounter
by Matt Kappadakunnel
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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