Who’s the Front-Runner to Lead at the USCCB?
When the U.S. bishops meet for their plenary assembly in Baltimore next month, they’ll discuss the prospect of the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress, a new text of ethical directives for Catholic hospitals, and spend a great deal of time talking about the situation of immigrants to the United States. The bishops will no doubt approve a message to send to Pope Leo — their American brother — and receive a message in response, through apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre.
Octopus Arms Are the Animal Kingdom’s Most Flexible...
Bishops Need to Earn Their Priests’ Confidence...
Every now and then, when I have trouble choosing a topic for commentary, I consult the CatholicCulture archives, to see what I was writing five or ten or fifteen years ago around this time of year. So it was that today I found a piece that I had written in October 2017: The crisis of pastoral leadership. That article, in turn, was prompted by a message from a friend, a priest in a relatively strong American diocese, who complained about the sort of directives he received from the chancery.
What’s Happening to the Anglican Communion?
Earlier this month, a body known as GAFCON — the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans — declared it was “now the Global Anglican Communion.” In the Oct. 16 declaration, entitled “The future has arrived,” the alliance of conservative Anglican church leaders said it had resolved to “reorder” the Anglican Communion, the world’s third-largest Christian communion after the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy.
‘Nothing Short of a Miracle’: Annunciation Church Shooting Survivor Sophia Forchas Returns Home After 57 Days...
Twelve-year-old Sophia Forchas is finally home — after spending 57 days in the hospital with severe injuries sustained from the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during the first school Mass of the year that claimed the lives of two students. Sophia received a fond farewell outside the hospital on Oct. 23. In a statement posted to the family’s GoFundMe page, Sophia’s parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, wrote
Hamas’ War on Women: Survivors Detail Horrors of Captivity...
John Paul II: The Man, the Pope, the Saint...
Dying From Compassion...
The “Mother of Parliaments” — that’s the one in London — has been embroiled for months in a debate over “assisted dying,” which is euphemized elsewhere under other Orwellian monikers: “Medical Assistance in Dying,” “Physician Assisted Suicide,” “Physician Assisted Dying,” and so forth. The bill legalizing this odious practice narrowly passed the House of Commons on June 20 and has been subsequently debated in the House of Lords. Further parliamentary procedures may delay a final decision until next April or May; the parliamentary clock may even run out on the bill, which would be all to the good.
No Favorites: A Reflection on the Upcoming 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time...
Jesus draws a blunt picture in today’s Gospel. The Pharisee’s prayer is almost a parody of the thanksgiving psalms. Instead of praising God for His mighty works, the Pharisee congratulates himself for his own deeds, which he presents to God in some detail. The tax collector stands at a distance, too ashamed even to raise his eyes to God. He prays with a humble and contrite heart. He knows that before God no one is righteous, no one has cause to boast...
Why Use Many Streetlights When One Will Do?
When Catholics Forget Our Mission, the Church Declines...
I while back, I helped a friend move into his new home. He is a Catholic priest and got assigned as Pastor to a new parish. This parish has multiple locations, a school, a big staff, and dozens of large buildings. When he realized just how many things he is responsible for, it was a bit disorienting. It was also clear that he is stepping into a situation where some of these responsibilities are possible distractions to that which is much more important...
Bishops Denounce Rising Mafia-Style Violence in Sicily Following Murder of 21-Year-Old...
Are We Teaching Too Much Religion?
The Least-Visited National Park Unit in All 50 States...
Bishop Scharfenberger of Albany Retires; Boston Auxiliary Bishop O’Connell Named Successor...
Is It a Sin to Watch Pirated Content Online?
The ‘gay-washed’ Bible’s imprimatur should be withdrawn. Here’s why...
Why Are There Different Numbering Systems for the Psalms?
Pope Leo XIV Canonizes 7 New Saints, Including First From Venezuela and Papua New Guinea...
Your Home Is the Home of Responsibility...
‘Help Me Help Missionaries’: Pope Leo’s Historic Video Appeal...
2,000 Join Rosary Crusade Through Streets of London...
Vatican Announces Formal Nomination of Judges in Father Rupnik Trial...
How Should Catholics Understand the Rogue Exorcist in Mark 9?
Men Without Heads: The Real Crisis in Classical Education...
Once-secret Emperor Commodus’ passage to Rome Colosseum opens to public for the first time...
Reflections on Dilexi Te, the first magisterial document of Leo XIV’s pontificate...
Loyola University Basketball’s Sister Jean Dolores Dies at 106...
‘Dilexi Te’: The Franciscan Framework of Pope Leo’s First Document...
Cardinal Burke Celebrates Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica...
This Sunday, How Satan ‘Ambushes’ Religious People (and How to Get Away)...
Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee praying in the Temple area. He believes God is impressed by all of his spiritual accomplishments. Meanwhile, a tax collector beats his breast and bows his head, praying only, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” We know the rest of the story: This Pharisee is like the Pharisees who rejected Jesus, and this publican is like the tax collectors and sinners who became his disciples.
Shaking Hands, Vigano II, and Spy Time...
It’s been a strange experience for me watching the royal Vatican visit this week, being an American-born Catholic whose first legal act as an adult was to swear an oath of fidelity to the British sovereign. The whole meeting was a mass of obvious contradictions. The pope conferred on the King the status of “royal confrater” of the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, not to be confused with the Anglican church in Rome dedicated to the same saint, referred to by English seminarians as “St. Paul Outside the Church”.
What Does the Bible Say About Israel?
In the biblical narrative, Israel is a person before it’s a people. The great patriarch Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, is renamed Israel (“he who wrestles with God”) following his nocturnal contest with the Lord. Jacob (Israel) went on to have no less than twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. These twelve sons were the basis for what eventually became the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel.
St. John Henry Newman’s ‘Second Spring’ Reaches Its Full Bloom...
Pope Leo XIV will declare St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day, capping off a remarkable few weeks for Catholics in his native England — weeks that illustrated how far their present position has changed since the mid-19th century. Newman is being made a doctor for his theological work, but the timing emphasizes the historical shifts of which he was both a participant and a witness...
Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III Make History With First Joint Prayer Since Reformation...
The 5 Great October Homilies of St. John Paul II...
Scared of Spiders? Some Former Arachnophobes Now Are Keeping Jumping Spiders as Pets...
Straight to Heaven, Straight to Hell...
One of the most common objections Protestants raise against the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is that it seems to contradict what Jesus taught about the immediacy of heaven after death. In fact, well-known Protestant writers Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie make this exact case in their book. Their argument is simple: Jesus teaches that people either go straight to heaven or straight to hell after death, leaving no room for an in-between purification like purgatory...
27 Aphorisms for Knowing God in the Present World...
5 Ways to Become a Grounded Woman...
A few weeks ago, a new ad popped up on my Instagram feed. Grounding sheets. I didn’t know what they were, but now, after a feed flooded with posts about them, I have a pretty good idea. They are meant to connect a sleeper with the earth’s natural energy frequency, hence “grounding.” Who wouldn’t want to connect with the ground, the earth, dirt, something solid, ordered, natural, and life-promoting?
I Test Drove a Flying Car. Get Ready, They’re Here...
These 7 New Saints Are Arriving at Just the Right Time...
What may seem like a delay from God is often simply the unfolding of his perfect plan for you...
Are you waiting to find "the one?" The perfect job? Maybe just a general feeling of contentment in your life? God's timing is often (usually!) not our timing. So what can you do? Meet Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio—a man who built roads, made a fortune, and waited decades for his deepest prayer to be answered, but it didn't go quite like he envisioned it. His story is a powerful reminder...
This Sunday: Prayer Changes You, Not God...
Pope Leo XIV Appoints Cardinal Cupich to Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State...
Why Christ Won’t Let His Church Ordain Women...
Evidence of Mercy Amid the Madness...
How the Oct. 13, 1917, ‘Miracle of the Sun’ in Fátima Helped to End an Atheist Regime...
Contemplation and the Cross...
It’s Not Too Late: Why Adults Should Learn Latin and Ancient Greek...
Pope Leo’s Augustinian community is drawing renewed interest. Here’s what makes it unique...
Is There a Purpose to Religious Education?
Dare Students Go Amish on the Topic of AI?
Pope Hails Glimmers of Hope for Peace in Holy Land and Prays for Ukraine...
Wisdom in ‘The Wind in the Willows’...
Washington State Drops Effort to Make Priests Violate Seal of Confession in Reporting Law...
‘Dilexi Te’: Pope Leo XIV, in His First Major Document, Says the Poor Evangelize Us...
Apostolic Exhortation ‘Dilexi Te’ on Love for the Poor...
Remains of St. Francis of Assisi to Be Publicly Displayed for the First Time in 800 Years...
Hollywood Has Made Many Movies About Exorcism. But None Has Had Christ at Its Heart...
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The full contents of the New Advent website are available as a digital download. It includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — and it's only $19.99...
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—)
