Every Round Goes Higher: A Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent...
The second Sunday of Lent always features the Transfiguration. This is because we are following the Lord on His final odyssey to Jerusalem, and this journey up Mt. Tabor was one of His stops (with Peter, James, and John). It is commonly held that Jesus did this to prepare His apostles for the difficult days ahead...
How to Write Well — and Why...
Remember the fabulous 1970s? The decade of Watergate, recession, gas lines, defeat in Vietnam, unemployment, inflation, and a failed Iranian hostage rescue? Add to that the advent of “whole language” theory in education. Whoever came up with that idea needs a one-way ticket to Svalbard. Check the map. It’s not Las Vegas. Mention “whole language” to my wife, a 40-year veteran of teaching in Catholic schools, and she’ll laugh you out of the room.
US and Israel Launch Attack on Iran...
Abortion Advocate’s Withdrawal Just the First Step at Notre Dame, Pro-Lifers Say...
The announcement Thursday that an advocate of legal abortion won’t take a leadership position at Notre Dame pleased pro-life critics of the appointment, though they still have serious concerns about what they see as the university’s drift away from its Catholic identity. A candlelight student protest planned for Friday night is still going ahead...
Pro-Abortion Professor Backs off Leadership Appointment at Notre Dame After Backlash...
The Casaroli Myth vs. the Historical Record...
Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Vatican Secretary of State from 1979 to 1990 — and before that, the architect and chief diplomatic agent of the Ostpolitik of Pope Paul VI — initially played hard-to-get when I tried to interview him for the first volume of my John Paul II biography, Witness to Hope. The cardinal was not a fan of my 1992 book...
Vatican Announces Pope Leo XIV’s 11-Day Pastoral Visit to 4 African Countries in April...
Leo XIV Reestablishes the Episcopal Hierarchy in Rome...
A set of rumored bishop appointments by Pope Leo XIV may set the tenor for how the Diocese of Rome relates to the See of Peter going forward, potentially digressing from the precedent set by the current Pontiff’s predecessors. Four new auxiliary bishops are expected to be appointed to the Diocese of Rome, following an upcoming meeting between the Pope and the diocesan prelates...
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...
The Word of God provides us with many biblical scenes of irony that leave one to ask, what were they thinking? One such example is Israel’s release from Egyptian bondage, where instead of acknowledging God's gift of freedom, the Israelites chose to murmur against Him the moment they began to endure some form of physical suffering.
Take Back Your Identity...
Who told you who you are? Because if it’s not God, you’ve been listening to the wrong voice. The devil has a very thin playbook. His first move? Attack your identity. He did it in Genesis. He tried it on Jesus in the desert — every single temptation starting with the words, "If you are the Son of God..." He was trying to shake Jesus’ sense of who he was. Because here’s the thing...
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?
Vatican Moves Forward on $85 Million Swiss Guard Barracks Project...
Two Drinks with 94-Year-Old Catholic Psychiatrist Paul McHugh (“Dr. I Told You So”)...
Why the Devil Might Not Mind That You’re Giving Up Chocolate for Lent...
What Cardinal Ouellet Tells Us About Pope Leo and Lay Governance...
Remains of St. Francis to Be Visible for Veneration in Assisi...
Oxford Oratory receives more converts in two months than entire previous year...
Which tree was used to make the cross? Legend and folklore have many strange answers...
A Defense of Scott Hahn and the ‘Hahn School’...
Notre Dame must choose courage...
Vatican offers ‘dialogue’ with SSPX, warns against ordinations...
This Sunday, Jesus Tells Angry Americans What We Need to Change, Right Now...
Former DC United soccer star discusses his return to the Catholic faith...
‘Worthy of God’s Love’: The Powerful Witness of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star James Van Der Beek...
This Sunday, Lent Transfigures Us...
Just as Lent is getting off the ground, today’s Gospel gives us the story of the Transfiguration. While we commemorate the 40 days of Jesus fasting in the desert with nothing but wild beasts as his companions, we are presented with an image of Jesus transformed in a glorious way on the mountaintop with the great prophets Elijah and Moses as his companions...
The Secret Sauce That Keeps Parish Fish Fries Afloat...
The Fish Friar at St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, can’t hear confessions and doesn’t live in a religious community. But he’s happy to have a beer with visitors to the parish – that is, after he’s done with his fish frying duties for the evening...
What Just Happened at Notre Dame? Inside the Reversal of Susan Ostermann’s Appointment...
For weeks, University of Notre Dame leaders publicly insisted that the appointment of a pro-abortion-rights professor to head the Asian studies institute was final. But beneath the university’s famed Golden Dome, things were far more unsettled, campus sources told the Register — especially in the office of Holy Cross Father Robert Dowd, Notre Dame’s president.
US Bishops End Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Refugee Resettlement...
Theologian Paul Thigpen Dies at 71...
Cultivate Joy, and Choose to Be Joyful...
Something many struggle with, I certainly include myself, is how to find joy when one is not ‘feeling’ joyful. This is a complex question that calls for careful and nuanced consideration. Part of thinking clearly about it is recognizing that real sorrow has a significant place in life. Being joyful, then, does not imply that we deny our sorrow or pretend we don’t have it...
The SSPX Rupture With Tradition...
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Cardinal Victor Fernández, recently hosted the superior general of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Father Davide Pagliarani, to begin an ecclesial dialogue. Sadly, and predictably, the Society, in a Feb. 18 letter to Cardinal Fernández, has rejected the offer of continuing dialogue, claiming it has no hope of success...
Alysa Liu and the Olympic Lesson We Almost Missed...
The Legend of Rattlesnake Kate...
I’ve been thinking this morning about ole Rattlesnake Kate, somewhat of a heroine in my adopted home state. Kate is the kind of Colorado character who makes the Old West wild. She was born in a log cabin in the hot summer of 1893, became a nurse, and married and divorced a bunch of times — some accounts say she attempted marriage five or six times, and none of them took...
Renovation of Swiss Guard Barracks at Vatican Delayed Amid Escalating Costs...
Entering the Desert with Christ this Lent...
The Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent gives us the dramatic scene of Christ entering the desert to do spiritual battle with the devil. This testing in the desert is also the theme for the first episode of Bible Across America Lent 2026, which you can sign up for here. In this blog post, we’ll explore the deeper meaning of Christ’s wilderness showdown with Satan, as well as the encouragement we can draw from His example...
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...
What I Learned About Prayer (and Myself) After 1,000 Days on Hallow...
Vatican Turns Down Invitation to Trump’s ‘Board of Peace,’ Says It Was ‘Perplexed’ by Plan...
Pope Leo’s Ash Wednesday Audience: ‘The Liturgy Is an Experience of God’s Unity’...
Tale of Two Adams: A Reflection on the First Sunday of Lent...
How the Easy-Bake Oven, Launched in 1963, Revolutionized the Toy Industry...
What’s the matter with Notre Dame? Failed leadership...
Vatican Expands Visitor Experience at St. Peter's Basilica to Mark 400th Anniversary...
Pope Leo’s Sunday Angelus: True Righteousness Demands Great Love...
Federal Judge Orders Catholic Group to Have Access to ICE Facility on Ash Wednesday...
Perhaps We’re Doomed, Going Viral, and in Training...
Godparenting Is a Spiritual Calling...
Christian Smith: ‘Why I’m Done with Notre Dame’...
Two-Thirds of Aborted Babies Lost Their Lives to Abortion Pills, Report Finds...
Pope Leo XIV explains why Catholics fast during Lent...
When Fulton Sheen Was Out of Season...
Pope Leo XIV: ‘The Church Is the Rightful Home of Sacred Scripture’...
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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—)
