Ontario Offers Death as a Same-Day Service...
Here’s a ghoulish statistic from Ontario’s “Medical Assistance in Dying” program: In 2023, more than 200 people who applied to the program were dead within 36 hours. For 65 people, the state program provided same-day service. Think about it: If you’re sick and suffering, or if you’re just suffering from a severe bout of depression...
Why Was St. John Henry Newman Called ‘the Most Dangerous Man in England?’...
St. John Henry Newman was once called “the most dangerous man in England” by the papal chamberlain, Fr. George Talbot, primarily because of the way Newman engaged the laity in supporting and even managing Catholic schools. Indeed, Newman had to struggle in many of his educational projects...
A Purgatorial Procession...
A mass of ferocious men ride across the sky on giant black goats and black horses, making a fearsome din as they charge to the hunt, baying black hounds at their sides. Those who hear the approaching noise must not look or they risk being dragged into the Wild Hunt of the dead. With plenty of local and national variations, this image of phantom hordes of huntsmen or soldiers...
A Confession of the Legendary Lou Holtz...
Before a Notre Dame-Miami football game, a chaplain of the Miami Hurricanes said, “God doesn’t care who wins football games.” When he heard this, Lou Holtz replied, “God may not care, but his mother sure does.” If you were to go on a random Tuesday to Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in 2026, you’ll see long lines of people...
4 Ways Pope Leo XIV Is the Augustinian Pope...
Pope Leo XIV Announces March Prayer Intention: ‘For Disarmament and Peace’...
St. John Vianney Said a Good Priest Could Lead 1,000 Souls to Heaven. I Think He Underestimated...
My spiritual advisor and dear friend, Msgr. Stanley J. Krempa passed away Feb. 28. Please pray for the repose of his soul. When I heard the news that he died, two thoughts immediately leapt to mind. One was a famous quote. I’d like to say it was a quote from St. Teresa of Avila or St. Francis of Assisi. Instead, the quote is by Thomas Hobbes: “Life is brutish and short.” That’s an odd thought to have, I know...
The Cardinal of Penzance, and Camp Commandments...
Today’s the feast of St. Katherine Drexel, the second Tuesday of Lent, and a good day — like so many right now — to pray for just, true, and lasting peace in our world. When he was elected, Pope Leo greeted the world with “the peace of the risen Christ.” That is, he said, “a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”
Vatican Synod Study Group Warns of Online Polarization...
Toy Story and AI Toys — Disney to the Rescue?
To all who sent me the trailer for “Toy Story 5,” thank you. Yes, I immediately sent it to Jonathan “Anxious Generation” Haidt, while knowing that he had almost certainly been hit with a tidal wave of emails the second the trainer reached the Internet. I guess we can hope that he was contacted by the principalities and powers at Disney long ago and, who knows, he may have been asked to serve as a consultant.
New Israeli Land Reforms Raise Fears Among West Bank Christians...
Every Round Goes Higher: A Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent...
How to Write Well — and Why...
Pope Leo XIV’s Sunday Angelus: ‘Only Peace, a Gift of God, Can Heal the Wounds Between Peoples’...
The Secret Sauce That Keeps Parish Fish Fries Afloat...
What Just Happened at Notre Dame? Inside the Reversal of Susan Ostermann’s Appointment...
US Bishops End Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Refugee Resettlement...
Theologian Paul Thigpen Dies at 71...
Cultivate Joy, and Choose to Be Joyful...
The SSPX Rupture With Tradition...
Alysa Liu and the Olympic Lesson We Almost Missed...
The Legend of Rattlesnake Kate...
Renovation of Swiss Guard Barracks at Vatican Delayed Amid Escalating Costs...
Entering the Desert with Christ this Lent...
Listen to Him: A Reflection on the Second Sunday of Lent...
How Have the Popes Treated the SSPX?
Bishops Invoke Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Protection as Violence Erupts in Mexico...
Pope Leo’s Sunday Angelus: ‘This Lent, Make Your Life a Unique Masterpiece’...
Love of Life, the Direction of Travel, and the Joy of Aliens...
Catholic Health Provider Agrees to $42 Million Settlement in Pension Dispute...
Record Ash Wednesday Turnout in France Fuels Hope for Catholic Revival...
Why Does Jesus Weep at the Tomb of Lazarus?
When Jesus receives word that his beloved friend Lazarus is sick, we’re told that He waits two more days before traveling to Bethany. The result is that when He finally arrives on the scene, Lazarus has already been dead for four days. Jesus then encounters Lazarus’s two sisters, Martha and Mary, in quick succession...
Why Are Swiss Bishops Doubling Down on Mandatory Psych Screening?
Swiss bishops agreed at a plenary meeting this week that mandatory psychological assessments of future pastoral workers, introduced last year, should continue, following a positive assessment of their effectiveness. In a statement issued at the end of their March 2-4 assembly in Saint-Maurice, the bishops said they had unanimously approved provisions regulating responsibilities for the assessments and how the results are handled.
Pope Leo XIV Appoints Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia as Apostolic Nuncio to the US...
This Sunday, Jesus Meets Us at the Well To Give Us What We Are Missing...
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus masterfully takes a woman who is captive to sin from a simple conversation about water and thirst to a self-examination of her life and a recognition that he is the Messiah. He does it without ever voicing his clear objections to her sinful life...
St. Longinus: The Centurion Who Pierced Christ’s Side...
At the Crucifixion, two men encountered Christ in a way that changed their lives forever. Both later came to be honored as saints. One was the Good Thief, St. Dismas. Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The other was the Roman centurion who pierced the side of Christ with a lance and later came to be known by the name of Longinus.
A Time to Build, Nice Things, and No Comment...
There’s news again this week, and much of it serious. But before we get to that I want to start with something decidedly not serious — though not at all unserious — to lighten the mood. Apparently a group of American Catholics calling themselves Amici Vaticani have set up a site to crowd source money to create a papal tiara for Pope Leo. It was a longstanding custom back in the day for the home diocese of a newly elected pope...
What’s the Word for Forgetting Words?
Is Conclave Secrecy Dead — and Does It Matter?
Anthropic’s Break With the Pentagon Ignites AI Ethics Debate, Echoes Vatican Warnings...
One Priest Can't Care For Thousands. So What Should A Parish Do?
How many people can the pastor of the average Catholic parish in the USA deeply invest in and guide? I have asked hundreds of priests this question. The average is single digit numbers, probably around 7 parishioners. Think about what it takes to be a modern pastor of a Catholic parish. There isn’t enough time to invest deeply in many people...
Dutch Museum Makes ‘Needle in a Haystack’ Confirmation of Rembrandt Painting...
Striking the Rock: A Reflection on the Third Sunday of Lent...
The Israelites’ hearts were hardened by their hardships in the desert. Though they saw His mighty deeds, in their thirst they grumbled and put God to the test in today’s First Reading, a crisis point recalled also in today’s Psalm. Jesus is thirsty, too, in today’s Gospel. He thirsts for souls. He longs to give the Samaritan woman the living waters that well up to eternal life...
USCCB President Archbishop Coakley Issues Urgent Call for Peace in the Middle East...
Where Do Bishops Come From? The Divinely Appointed Overseer...
German Bishops to Ask Rome to Permit Lay Homilies...
This Sunday, Lent Transfigures Us...
US and Israel Launch Attack on Iran...
Abortion Advocate’s Withdrawal Just the First Step at Notre Dame, Pro-Lifers Say...
Pro-Abortion Professor Backs off Leadership Appointment at Notre Dame After Backlash...
The Casaroli Myth vs. the Historical Record...
Vatican Announces Pope Leo XIV’s 11-Day Pastoral Visit to 4 African Countries in April...
Leo XIV Reestablishes the Episcopal Hierarchy in Rome...
The Tide Is Turning Against Transgender Ideology...
8 Characteristics of a Culture of Lay Formation...
Don’t Murmur Against Christ — Proclaim Him with Grace and Joy...
Bones of St. Francis of Assisi on Public Display Show Enduring Appeal of Relics...
How Have the Popes Treated the SSPX?
Practical Wisdom for a Happier Life...
Lent as Training for Spiritual War — the Great Fight Back...
Adult Baptisms Surge Again in Belgium...
Is It Wrong to Sell Things on Platforms That Fund Abortion?
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The Complete List of Popes
- St. Peter (32-67)
- St. Linus (67-76)
- St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)
- St. Clement I (88-97)
- St. Evaristus (97-105)
- St. Alexander I (105-115)
- St. Sixtus I (115-125)
- St. Telesphorus (125-136)
- St. Hyginus (136-140)
- St. Pius I (140-155)
- St. Anicetus (155-166)
- St. Soter (166-175)
- St. Eleutherius (175-189)
- St. Victor I (189-199)
- St. Zephyrinus (199-217)
- St. Callistus I (217-22)
- St. Urban I (222-30)
- St. Pontian (230-35)
- St. Anterus (235-36)
- St. Fabian (236-50)
- St. Cornelius (251-53)
- St. Lucius I (253-54)
- St. Stephen I (254-257)
- St. Sixtus II (257-258)
- St. Dionysius (260-268)
- St. Felix I (269-274)
- St. Eutychian (275-283)
- St. Caius (283-296)
- St. Marcellinus (296-304)
- St. Marcellus I (308-309)
- St. Eusebius (309 or 310)
- St. Miltiades (311-14)
- St. Sylvester I (314-35)
- St. Marcus (336)
- St. Julius I (337-52)
- Liberius (352-66)
- St. Damasus I (366-84)
- St. Siricius (384-99)
- St. Anastasius I (399-401)
- St. Innocent I (401-17)
- St. Zosimus (417-18)
- St. Boniface I (418-22)
- St. Celestine I (422-32)
- St. Sixtus III (432-40)
- St. Leo I (the Great) (440-61)
- St. Hilarius (461-68)
- St. Simplicius (468-83)
- St. Felix III (II) (483-92)
- St. Gelasius I (492-96)
- Anastasius II (496-98)
- St. Symmachus (498-514)
- St. Hormisdas (514-23)
- St. John I (523-26)
- St. Felix IV (III) (526-30)
- Boniface II (530-32)
- John II (533-35)
- St. Agapetus I (535-36)
- St. Silverius (536-37)
- Vigilius (537-55)
- Pelagius I (556-61)
- John III (561-74)
- Benedict I (575-79)
- Pelagius II (579-90)
- St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-604)
- Sabinian (604-606)
- Boniface III (607)
- St. Boniface IV (608-15)
- St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-18)
- Boniface V (619-25)
- Honorius I (625-38)
- Severinus (640)
- John IV (640-42)
- Theodore I (642-49)
- St. Martin I (649-55)
- St. Eugene I (655-57)
- St. Vitalian (657-72)
- Adeodatus (II) (672-76)
- Donus (676-78)
- St. Agatho (678-81)
- St. Leo II (682-83)
- St. Benedict II (684-85)
- John V (685-86)
- Conon (686-87)
- St. Sergius I (687-701)
- John VI (701-05)
- John VII (705-07)
- Sisinnius (708)
- Constantine (708-15)
- St. Gregory II (715-31)
- St. Gregory III (731-41)
- St. Zachary (741-52)
- Stephen II (III) (752-57)
- St. Paul I (757-67)
- Stephen III (IV) (767-72)
- Adrian I (772-95)
- St. Leo III (795-816)
- Stephen IV (V) (816-17)
- St. Paschal I (817-24)
- Eugene II (824-27)
- Valentine (827)
- Gregory IV (827-44)
- Sergius II (844-47)
- St. Leo IV (847-55)
- Benedict III (855-58)
- St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-67)
- Adrian II (867-72)
- John VIII (872-82)
- Marinus I (882-84)
- St. Adrian III (884-85)
- Stephen V (VI) (885-91)
- Formosus (891-96)
- Boniface VI (896)
- Stephen VI (VII) (896-97)
- Romanus (897)
- Theodore II (897)
- John IX (898-900)
- Benedict IV (900-03)
- Leo V (903)
- Sergius III (904-11)
- Anastasius III (911-13)
- Lando (913-14)
- John X (914-28)
- Leo VI (928)
- Stephen VIII (929-31)
- John XI (931-35)
- Leo VII (936-39)
- Stephen IX (939-42)
- Marinus II (942-46)
- Agapetus II (946-55)
- John XII (955-63)
- Leo VIII (963-64)
- Benedict V (964)
- John XIII (965-72)
- Benedict VI (973-74)
- Benedict VII (974-83)
- John XIV (983-84)
- John XV (985-96)
- Gregory V (996-99)
- Sylvester II (999-1003)
- John XVII (1003)
- John XVIII (1003-09)
- Sergius IV (1009-12)
- Benedict VIII (1012-24)
- John XIX (1024-32)
- Benedict IX (1032-45)
- Sylvester III (1045)
- Benedict IX (1045)
- Gregory VI (1045-46)
- Clement II (1046-47)
- Benedict IX (1047-48)
- Damasus II (1048)
- St. Leo IX (1049-54)
- Victor II (1055-57)
- Stephen X (1057-58)
- Nicholas II (1058-61)
- Alexander II (1061-73)
- St. Gregory VII (1073-85)
- Blessed Victor III (1086-87)
- Blessed Urban II (1088-99)
- Paschal II (1099-1118)
- Gelasius II (1118-19)
- Callistus II (1119-24)
- Honorius II (1124-30)
- Innocent II (1130-43)
- Celestine II (1143-44)
- Lucius II (1144-45)
- Blessed Eugene III (1145-53)
- Anastasius IV (1153-54)
- Adrian IV (1154-59)
- Alexander III (1159-81)
- Lucius III (1181-85)
- Urban III (1185-87)
- Gregory VIII (1187)
- Clement III (1187-91)
- Celestine III (1191-98)
- Innocent III (1198-1216)
- Honorius III (1216-27)
- Gregory IX (1227-41)
- Celestine IV (1241)
- Innocent IV (1243-54)
- Alexander IV (1254-61)
- Urban IV (1261-64)
- Clement IV (1265-68)
- Blessed Gregory X (1271-76)
- Blessed Innocent V (1276)
- Adrian V (1276)
- John XXI (1276-77)
- Nicholas III (1277-80)
- Martin IV (1281-85)
- Honorius IV (1285-87)
- Nicholas IV (1288-92)
- St. Celestine V (1294)
- Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
- Blessed Benedict XI (1303-04)
- Clement V (1305-14)
- John XXII (1316-34)
- Benedict XII (1334-42)
- Clement VI (1342-52)
- Innocent VI (1352-62)
- Blessed Urban V (1362-70)
- Gregory XI (1370-78)
- Urban VI (1378-89)
- Boniface IX (1389-1404)
- Innocent VII (1404-06)
- Gregory XII (1406-15)
- Martin V (1417-31)
- Eugene IV (1431-47)
- Nicholas V (1447-55)
- Callistus III (1455-58)
- Pius II (1458-64)
- Paul II (1464-71)
- Sixtus IV (1471-84)
- Innocent VIII (1484-92)
- Alexander VI (1492-1503)
- Pius III (1503)
- Julius II (1503-13)
- Leo X (1513-21)
- Adrian VI (1522-23)
- Clement VII (1523-34)
- Paul III (1534-49)
- Julius III (1550-55)
- Marcellus II (1555)
- Paul IV (1555-59)
- Pius IV (1559-65)
- St. Pius V (1566-72)
- Gregory XIII (1572-85)
- Sixtus V (1585-90)
- Urban VII (1590)
- Gregory XIV (1590-91)
- Innocent IX (1591)
- Clement VIII (1592-1605)
- Leo XI (1605)
- Paul V (1605-21)
- Gregory XV (1621-23)
- Urban VIII (1623-44)
- Innocent X (1644-55)
- Alexander VII (1655-67)
- Clement IX (1667-69)
- Clement X (1670-76)
- Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89)
- Alexander VIII (1689-91)
- Innocent XII (1691-1700)
- Clement XI (1700-21)
- Innocent XIII (1721-24)
- Benedict XIII (1724-30)
- Clement XII (1730-40)
- Benedict XIV (1740-58)
- Clement XIII (1758-69)
- Clement XIV (1769-74)
- Pius VI (1775-99)
- Pius VII (1800-23)
- Leo XII (1823-29)
- Pius VIII (1829-30)
- Gregory XVI (1831-46)
- Blessed Pius IX (1846-78)
- Leo XIII (1878-1903)
- St. Pius X (1903-14)
- Benedict XV (1914-22)
- Pius XI (1922-39)
- Pius XII (1939-58)
- St. John XXIII (1958-63)
- St. Paul VI (1963-78)
- John Paul I (1978)
- St. John Paul II (1978-2005)
- Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
- Francis (2013-2025)
- Leo XIV (2025—)