The Death of Two Holy Popes Pius...
Today in Papal History marks the date that Servant of God Pope Pius VII, the 250th successor of St. Peter, died at the age of 81. His papacy was one of the longest in history and contained many illustrious accomplishments – vocally opposing the slave trade, restoring the Jesuit Order to good standing, and once reportedly even levitating during Mass in 1811...
Archbishop of San Antonio Announces Laicization of Priest for Schism and Disobedience to the Pope...
Autism and the Priesthood: How the Church Is Responding...
Psychologist and Catholic deacon Lawrence Sutton once worked with a seminarian, now a parish priest, who genuflected before the Blessed Sacrament but looked like a toy soldier when he did it. Not only did the young man stick out because of his unusual movement, but he couldn’t understand why his mechanics drew attention to himself...
‘It’s Always the Holy Spirit’: Meet 3 Dioceses Seeing Large Numbers of Priestly Ordinations...
Oh, the Depths: A Reflection on the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time...
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul exclaims in today’s Epistle. Today’s Psalm, too, takes up the triumphant note of joy and thanksgiving. Why? Because in the Gospel, the heavenly Father reveals the mystery of His kingdom to Peter. With Peter, we rejoice that Jesus is the anointed Son promised to David, the one prophesied to build God’s temple and reign over an everlasting kingdom...
If Sophie points to God, who notices?
To say the least, Indiana Fever star Sophie (“Do the Sophie”) Cunningham’s quotes about trans athletes and women’s sports ignited a firestorm in sports, politics, social media and the elite press. In this case, the sports world includes the small, struggling Women’s National Professional Basketball Association. The furor started at ESPN, of course...
Canceled Masonic Funerals Put Church-Freemasonry Tensions in Spotlight...
Recent last-minute cancellations of two Catholic funerals for prominent Italian Freemasons have revealed growing confusion over Freemasonry and its relationship with the Italian Church after a decade of controversial efforts to establish dialogue with the secretive group, long proscribed by the Church. In early August, a funeral had been scheduled for Bruno Battisti D’Amario...
A Foreigner's Faith: A Reflection on the Upcoming 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time...
Does Speaking About Christ Terrify You?
It is not often that you encounter a group of people who exhibit a sense of terror when asked about the first time they discovered Jesus Christ in their lives. The responses to this question were wide-ranging. Some responded at baptism, others during a particular Mass, others during a near-death experience or the loss of a loved one...
Childhood Friends Find ‘Missing Piece’ When DNA Test Reveals They’re Sisters...
Alasdair MacIntyre’s Very Different Argument Against Abortion...
The abortion debate is characteristically discussed in terms of either a broadly Kantian framework of rights or a broadly utilitarian framework of maximization of happiness, so Alasdair MacIntyre’s rejection of both approaches may cast new light on the ethics of abortion. MacIntyre rejects arguments from the “right to life.” But he also rejects arguments...
Australian Bishop Christopher Saunders Convicted of Sexual Abuse...
Am I Excommunicated If I Attend an SSPX Wedding?
Earthquake in Colombia Causes at Least 20 Deaths, Partial Collapse of Neo-Gothic Cathedral...
This Sunday, At the Darkest Hour, Jesus Emerges From the Storms In Your Life...
A video of a touching ceremony — the ‘coronation’ of St. Agatha’s skull — goes viral, and The Usual Suspects melt down...
What you’re seeing is an event in Catania Sicily marking one of the four major commemorations of one of the most beloved early church martyrs. This is the 900th anniversary of the restoration on Agatha’s relics to the city after they had been stolen and taken to Constantinople for centuries. The skull of the saint is in an elaborate reliquary that looks like this:
Is Leo XIV Stalling on Financial Reform?
Following the various financial scandals that had plagued the Vatican under his predecessors, Pope Leo XIV has made a few changes to the Council for the Economy — but will it be enough to bring about financial reform? Among the new appointments to the Council for the Economy are two young women in their 30s with impressive résumés...
Pope Leo XIV: ‘The Musical Heritage of the Church’ Must Be Preserved...
The Catholic Church Must Prepare for the Coming Battle of Despair...
It was the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, shortly before descending into madness, who wrote that “if we have our own why of life, we shall get along with almost any how.” Nietzsche, famously hostile to Christianity, was certainly not thinking of Christ as the “why” of life but the maxim still stands. We are mostly built and conditioned for purpose-filled lives, one way or another.
Pope Leo XIV Expresses Closeness to Victims of Earthquake in Indonesia...
Marian Days: Vietnamese Catholic Pilgrims Gather in Missouri...
Pope Leo’s Sunday Angelus: ‘God’s Table Is Set for Everyone’...
Live in St. Louis, Episcopal Health Concerns, and a New York State of Mind...
Next month will see (finally) the beatification of Ven. Fulton Sheen. After a lengthy, sometimes acrimonious, and always contentious back-and-forth between the archbishop’s home Diocese of Peoria and the Archdiocese of New York, where he served as an auxiliary bishop and was buried for many years, the beatification is now scheduled to take place in... St. Louis on September 24.
Why You Should Write Letters to the People You Love...
If my experience is any indication, personal letter writing has become rarer. The difference between emails and ‘real’ letters is surely related to why we write less even as it has become easier. But here I want to reflect on the importance and beauty of writing to loved ones and friends, either way. This is another ordinary aspect of human life that will reward our attention and intentionality.
The Best Photos from Wednesday’s Solar Eclipse...
St. Edith Stein’s Answer to a World Starved of Beauty...
Haiti Bishop Says Gangs Target Church as Violence Shuts Parishes, Schools...
Father Maurice, the News, and Going Multi...
Two things can be true at once. Take Tibet. Tibetan people have a litany of legitimate grievances against the Chinese Communist Party, and Beijing’s human rights record in Tibet is deeply troubling, especially where freedom of religion, culture, speech, and conscience are concerned. There are ample reports of forced labor and labor trafficking from Tibet, and claims of forced sterilization and abortion in the region...
Italian Bishops Cancel Masonic Funerals...
Pope Leo’s Sunday Angelus: Stop the Vicious Cycle of Violence in Sudan and Ukraine...
Paris, Lourdes, Metz: Vatican Releases Schedule for Pope Leo’s September Trip to France...
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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—)