The Catholic thing – the concrete historical reality of Catholicism – is the richest cultural tradition in the world. It was born from Judaism and, through that spiritual parentage, even reaches back into the great ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. In its early days, it confronted, absorbed, and redirected what was then the most sophisticated society in existence, Greco-Roman culture. When that culture fell, Catholicism preserved what it could and rebuilt the rest over centuries, incorporating new influences from Northern Europe and, during the great age of exploration, from the entire globe. Today, it numbers over a billion souls on every continent. Despite its all-too-human imperfections, there is simply nothing like it.
In the early days of July 1826, Thomas Jefferson “marshalled his will toward the realization of one last mission: He wanted to survive until the Fourth of July.” So writes Jon Meacham in his marvelous biography Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Jefferson did, repeatedly asking in his final agony in the evening hours of […]
St. Pope John Paul II on Sunday, June 21, 2026 Excerpted from Address of John Paul II to the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, June 4, 1999 The theme of fatherhood, which you have chosen for this plenary meeting, refers to the third year of preparation for the Great Jubilee, dedicated precisely to […]
David G. Bonagura, Jr.: Americans must rediscover a love of God and country, and a willingness to serve them above all else. Irecently discovered All Creatures Great and Small, a 1930s-set British comedy-drama chronicling a trio of veterinarians working in rural Yorkshire. In the latest episode that I watched, Great Britain declares war on Nazi Germany and […]
David Warren: The Pope should avoid political posturing, especially aligning with the Democrats, as it undermines the Church’s authority. The pope may be many things in many contexts, but he should avoid becoming a shill for the Democratic Party. This is how he came across when he delivered a political statement just after he had been […]
Msgr. Charles Fink: The message of Easter is not that there will be no more crosses but that all our crosses, even death, can lead to new and eternal life, an eternal life begun here and now by our union with the risen Lord. During the first half of the 20th century, there emerged an extraordinary […]
When the American novelist Walker Percy was asked by an interviewer why he had become a Catholic, he famously answered, “What else is there?” He was too intelligent and analytical to be merely flippant. He knew that other religions and philosophies, although they might contain elements of truth and wisdom, could not answer to the […]
Readers of books, and specifically fantastic books by Charles Williams and other Inklings, are summoned. I do not like them as much as I should, for I have never been a fan of fantasy literature, and I note that among the Inklings, only J.R.R. Tolkien is a reliable Catholic. But C.S. Lewis is almost a […]
Today is Columbus Day, or (among the alternatively oriented) Native Peoples’ Day, both displaced in any case, as even major Catholic feasts now are, to a different date, so that people will have long weekends, or not be inconvenienced, or something. In any event, it’s a day now redefined in terms that make it unclear […]
It’s from a kind of compulsion that this week I write on Charlie Kirk. I keep seeing in my mind again and again the images. It is a brilliant day, the kind of day we live for in the summer. It’s glorious to be alive. He is smiling and relaxed, wearing a loose-fitting white tee […]
he philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who died this past spring, is best remembered for his book After Virtue (1981). But his book Dependent, Rational Animals (1999) is a work of equal value. In it, he argued that dependence on others is hardwired into the human experience. We’re not interchangeable creatures. We have different strengths and weaknesses, skills and deficiencies. And […]
Surrounded by a culture of mounting political violence, we all must feel at least a modicum of anger. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. Utah Governor Spencer Cox is to be commended for admitting it on Friday: “Over the last 48 hours, I have been as angry as I have ever been. . .and […]
The assassination of Charlie Kirk was not just the killing of a brilliant young mind, a husband, and a father; it was an attempt to kill the truth. It was an attempt to kill a movement of young adults engaging in public discourse about the essential truths of humanity. And it was an attempt to […]
A few decades of teaching at the college level have demonstrated to me that students are increasingly unprepared to study political theory. This is neither an insult nor is it the students’ fault. In some ways, it is a reversion to the mean, given Aristotle’s observation that it is virtually impossible to teach young people […]
Pop star Madonna is urging Pope Leo to intervene in Gaza, while the new pontiff faces his own challenges at home. Just 100 days into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has ordered an investigation into Cardinal Carlos Castillo of Lima over allegations of misconduct and financial irregularities. What does this reveal about his approach to […]
In this episode of The Prayerful Posse, Raymond Arroyo is joined by Fr. Gerald Murray and Robert Royal to examine Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of a new bishop in China, what it means for the future of the Vatican-China deal, and the fate of the underground Church. The Posse also unpacks the removal of Rupnik’s […]