At Least There’s Something Honest About Tomahawks and Hanging: Embracing Killing from London to New York...
In less than the less than three hours it took me to get from Moynihan Train Hall to Albany, N.Y., this morning, the British House of Commons voted in favor of assisted suicide, rejecting all kinds of warnings that should have stopped them in their tracks if they cared anything about human life. So it was two hours ultimately for debate — not unlike the quick vote earlier in the week on abortion up to birth...
ADHD doesn't stop me from seeing God’s love at Mass...
The young couple a few rows in front of me at Mass one Sunday had a hurried, urgent conversation. The husband then tried to get by his wife in the pew, but couldn’t because she had a little girl in her lap, and she could neither move back nor lean forward. So the man put one hand on his wife’s shoulder and the other on the back of the pew, leapt up, pulling his knees to his chest, and swung through. He scuttled to the end of the row, where he grabbed a little boy I hadn’t noticed.
What Did Dinosaurs Sound Like?
Pope Leo is giving signs of hope for a true synodality rooted in Christ...
As a great many people have observed, under Pope Francis, the concept of synodality morphed into a constant and universal input process, with apparently everybody welcome. That approach was excessively institutionalized and bureaucratized, remarkably costly, and largely a waste of time as it frequently replaced unified and effective Catholic action with special pleading for more “inclusive” redefinitions of Catholic teaching...
“Public” Does Not Equal “State” or “Government”...
In its recent non-decision, St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic School v. Drummond, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an obtuse Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that excluded St. Isidore’s from the state charter school program. Notre Dame Law Professor Richard Garnett, in a fine article at Law & Liberty, explains why the Oklahoma Supremes got it wrong:
North American Martyrs Honored 100 Years After Beatification...
One of the main points of every Jubilee Year is to invite the Christian faithful to come to Rome to pray in the heart of the Church. Holy Year doors are opened at the four patriarchal Basilicas precisely for people to pass through them, symbolically leaving their old life on one side of the door as they enter into a new life with Christ and the Church on the other.
In Epic Father’s Day Prank, 200 Dads Tricked Into Wearing Same Shirt to Mass...
Caravaggio’s ‘The Entombment of Christ’ is drawing crowds in Japan...
Sowing or reaping? There is no third option...
An Important Survey on Catholics in the United States...
Pew Research Center has issued a new report which aggregates data they have collected over the last few years on Catholics in the USA. The date within the report is insightful for those of us who are watching trends in the Catholic Church as well as in the wider culture. While I recommend a close reading of the entire report, I want to highlight some of the things that I find most interesting and add my own comments.
What if you funneled Niagara Falls through a straw?
‘Starry Night’ and Van Gogh’s Haunting of Faith...
What Does the Bible Say About Hope in Hard Times?
Sacred Scripture is filled with wisdom and consolation for people going through hard times. Without downplaying the difficulties of life, the Bible offers a resounding message of hope with its “Good News” about a God who enters into our suffering and transforms it from within. Even in our darkest moments, the Scriptures assure us that our present sufferings are only a passing thing, and that God is always close to us.
Spotlight on Catholics: Nearly Half of US Adults Maintain a Connection to the Faith...
Exploring the cosmos fills us with wonder, Pope tells Vatican Observatory gathering...
Church Marks 350th Anniversary of St. Margaret Mary’s Great Apparition of the Sacred Heart...
Pope Leo XIV: ‘The Gravest Form of Poverty Is Not to Know God’...
This Sunday, the Trinity Reveals the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything...
Trio of Priests: Maryland Family to Welcome Third Ordination...
Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati to Be Canonized Together on Sept. 7, Vatican Announces...
The Lessons of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea...
Pope Leo, Indian Bishops Mourn Crash of London-Bound Air India Flight That Killed More Than 240...
Pope Leo XIV Gives First Indication of How He Might Change ‘Synodality’...
What Dorothy Day and G.K. Chesterton Teach Us About Gratitude...
How You Can Build a Culture of Prayer in Your Family...
Pope Leo XIV’s Wednesday Audience: ‘There Is No Cry That God Does Not Hear’...
More Young Americans Turning Toward Catholicism: Report...
Pluscarden Abbey’s Hard-Fought Return to the Church...
Seek the Face of ... St. Thomas Aquinas?
The Three V’s of Church Architecture: Vision, Verticality and Volume...
Pope Leo XIV Honors Secret Cardinal Who Risked All to Save Jews During the Holocaust...
AI Reveals Dead Sea Scrolls May Be Older Than Previously Thought...
The Holy Spirit Singles Out Each of Us to Gather Us Together at Pentecost...
Pope Leo XIV on Pentecost: ‘The Holy Spirit Shatters Our Inner Chains and Transforms Us’...
4 Ways Jesus Replicates Himself in Every Parish in the World...
Sunday is Corpus Christi in the United States, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year C. It is a day to celebrate the Eucharist, which is uniquely the real presence of Jesus Christ. It only looks like bread: The host becomes the whole Christ — body, blood, soul and divinity. But the readings this Sunday show that the host itself is just one of the ways Jesus replicates himself before (and after) Mass...
The 10 Tallest Mountains in the Contiguous United States...
Where to Look, Real Justice, and Quality Control...
After four actual, literal, solid weeks of rain, it’s summer where I am. At last. It’s our daughter’s first proper summer, in the sense that she can now talk and make her wishes known and situate what is happening in the context of what she did yesterday and last week, and expects to do tomorrow, rather than living entirely in a rolling 5-minute window of awareness, like some kind of brown-eyed goldfish...
Message to Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Corporate Governance...
On the occasion of this Second Annual Rome Conference on Artificial Intelligence I extend my prayerful good wishes to those taking part. Your presence attests to the urgent need for serious reflection and ongoing discussion on the inherently ethical dimension of AI, as well as its responsible governance. In this regard, I am pleased that the second day of the Conference will take place in the Apostolic Palace...
Wet fingers always wrinkle in the same way. Around 20 years ago, scientists figured out why...
Pope Leo XIV Loves Baseball — Will He Be the One to Name This Man Its Patron Saint?
Baseball doesn’t have an official patron saint, a holy man or woman recognized by the Catholic Church as an especially potent intercessor for a particular place, group or activity. But Pope Leo XIV, a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan who, as Pope, has sported the South Side club’s trademark black-and-white ballcap and joined in a “White Sox” chant in St. Peter’s Square, may have a chance to take a swing at it.
Pope Leo XIV Appoints Bishop Shane Mackinlay as New Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia...
These scientists got an FAA waiver to fly drones in tornadoes. Watch the amazing results...
John Colet Is a Priest for Our Times. Here’s Why...
I’m a sucker for history because it’s a great teacher. And I talk a lot about the Reformation because, while our world today and the world of the Reformation era are very different, they also share some striking similarities: political and social turmoil; big changes in technology that reshape how we learn, think, communicate, work, and believe; and a pattern of ambiguity and battles within the Church. Names from the Reformation era like Thomas More, John Fisher, and Erasmus are widely known...
Can Pope Leo Afford to Wait on ‘Traditionis Custodes’?
The under-the-radar growth of Catholic commitment...
“It’s happening again this year. It happens every year.”That’s how I opened a post that appeared in this space two years ago. Sure enough, it’s happening this year too. It begins right after Ash Wednesday, when we begin to notice some new faces in the congregation at the little chapel where we attend the early-morning Mass on weekdays. Many of the same faces show up throughout Lent, and when Easter arrives, more than a few continue to come to daily Mass. So bit by bit, the congregation grows.
Dads Matter: Study Proves What Common Sense Already Knew...
One possible reaction to Good Fathers, Flourishing Kids: The Importance of Fatherhood in Virginia, the brand-new study put together by a diverse group of scholars for the National Marriage Project and the National Center for Black Family Life, might be to ask: “Do we really need a study to tell us dads are important?” It would be wonderful if studies showing obvious truths were unneeded...
AP-NORC poll: What Americans think about Pope Leo XIV...
Mary Is Our Mother — and Our Little Sister, ‘Younger Than Sin’...
Pope Leo XIV Encourages Young People to Be ‘Beacons of Hope’ at Chicago Event...
How the Vatican’s Embassies Work...
4 Reasons We Need the Eastern Churches, In Pope Leo XIV’s Own Words...
You Guys, Cat and Mouse, and Dressing for Mass...
Zoom into a Young Star Cluster in a Galaxy 200,000 Light-Years From Earth...
Modern Martyrs of Poland, Pray for Us...
When It Comes to Comparisons With Father Rupnik, Think Cosby, not Caravaggio...
6 Uncomfortable Facts About Divorce...
Doing Dishes and Great Music...
Mapping the Surprising Geographic History of the Film Industry...
Gases for Life, Bishop Healy, and Why I Need the Law...
Glorious Processions: A Reflection on the Upcoming Trinity Sunday...
Is There Movement (Finally) on Marko Rupnik?
In Apparent Gesture to Pope Leo, Nicaragua Allows Diaconal Ordinations...
In Sharp Policy U-Turn, Vatican News Removes Father Marko Rupnik Art From Website...
Breakthrough Is One Prayer Away: A Message for Pentecost...
The Hidden Science and Engineering of Modern Gas Stations...
Pope Leo XIV: ‘What Unites Christians Is Far Greater Than What Divides’...
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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—)
