Why Charlie Kirk’s Death Felt So Personal for Me and So Many Others...
I have been stunned at how personal Charlie Kirk’s death feels for me. Literally, I have been legit grieving. I cried off and on for a week. I fell into a funk I couldn’t describe. Many of my friends experienced the same. All for a man we had never met, and who most of us had very little awareness of until now. Why would the death of a stranger hit us so hard? I think there are several reasons...
Leo’s First Move, All to Play For, and Let Them Eat Swan...
We have a new prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops this morning, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., until now the prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts. Iannone took over that role from the previous incumbent, Cardinal Coccopalmerio, in 2018 — and at least in direct comparison he was a success. In the early days of the German Synodal Way, it was Cardinal Ouellet, Pope Leo’s own predecessor at the Dicastery for Bishops, who had to sign letters to the bishops’ conference...
Dick Durbin Should Not Be Honored by the Catholic Church in Chicago...
A Great Chasm: A Reflection on the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time...
The rich and powerful are visited with woe and exile in today’s Liturgy—not for their wealth but for their refusal to share it; not for their power but for their indifference to the suffering at their door. The complacent leaders in today’s First Reading feast on fine foods and wines, reveling while the house of Joseph, the kingdom of Israel, collapses around them. The rich man in today’s Gospel also lives like a king—dressed in royal purple and fine linen...
Catholics and Gender Ideology...
In this raw, emotionally overwrought moment in our public life, few topics generate more passion than gender ideology and the associated practice of gender “transition.” Several Catholic leaders have tried to address the ideology and the practice calmly, informed by science, philosophy, theology, and pastoral experience. The most recent is Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of “Toledo in America,” as the Vatican’s Annuario Pontificio designates the Ohio diocese centered on the Glass City.
The 5 ‘C’s of Effective Catholic Preaching and Teaching...
During the current season of my life, we don’t go to our parish most Sundays. That is because my parents no longer drive and my wife and I drive them to Mass at their parish. Because my Mom is bothered by incense and has trouble moving far, we sit in the back row. I have a new appreciation of good preaching because every possible distraction is between the priest / deacon preaching and myself, from the back pew.
Vatican Struggles Against Spread of ‘Deepfake’ Images of Pope Leo XIV...
Did you hear what Pope Leo XIV said about Charlie Kirk or President Donald Trump? What about his thoughts on the Rapture or whether it’s OK to be cremated? These are just a few of the topics the pontiff has appeared to speak about at length in videos popping up every day on social media. The problem is the videos are not real, and the Vatican is struggling to fight their spread.
To Find Wisdom at My Gate...
I teach philosophy, and it’s not easy–especially for the students. This is no surprise given our lofty goal to make some progress toward wisdom. Often students can have a sense that they are just not cut out for this. This can cause real grief, since surely we are all made to become to wise. It seems to be a piece of wisdom that the most important things—such as wisdom itself—don’t come easily...
Helping Couples Who Are Carrying the Unexpected Cross of Infertility...
Evaluating Pope Leo in Light of Our Own Sins...
How the classic McIntosh lost the battle for apple supremacy...
Why Did God Require Circumcision in the Old Testament?
Why God Keeps You Waiting (and How That Prepares You for Greatness)...
Vatican Urges Faithful to Revive Efforts for Sainthood Cause of Cardinal Van Thuan...
A Test Case, What Would Benedict Say, and Cheating Tossers...
Chinese Communist Government Bans Catholic Priests From Preaching, Evangelizing Online...
My Father Was Murdered Too. I Pray Charlie Kirk’s Family Finds the Grace I Found...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (1 OF 6): Ukraine, Synodality, Polarization, and the World Cup...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (2 OF 6): Relations With Other Churches...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (3 OF 6): The Curia and Vatican Finances...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (4 OF 6): Gaza, China, and the US...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (5 OF 6): Polarization in the World...
LEO XIV INTERVIEW (6 of 6): LGBTQ+ Issues and the Liturgy...
The Apocalypse of God’s Temple and the Tree of Life...
America badly needs men and women of character today. Thank you, Cal Ripken...
Untimely Meditations in Utah...
Thinking About Why Charlie Kirk Died...
King Charles III Attends First UK Catholic Royal Funeral in Centuries for Duchess of Kent...
Prudent Stewards: A Reflection on the Upcoming 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time...
Activist Priest Resigns Over New Syro-Malabar Liturgy...
How This Catholic School Event 67 Years Ago Changed Every School in America...
‘No One Can Silence Their Voice’: Pope Leo XIV Honors Modern Martyrs at Ecumenical Service...
Pope Leo XIV Marks 70th Birthday at Sunday Angelus: ‘I Give Thanks to the Lord and to My Parents’...
Pope Leo hints at Lampedusa visit in strong echo of Francis on migrants and refugees...
The Erika Kirk Moment and the Kamala Harris Presidency That Wasn’t...
When Erika Kirk gave her remarkable witness at her husband’s memorial service on Sunday, forgiving the young man who killed her husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, she so powerfully showed the power of radical love. A cross is not merely a decoration — around a neck or on a wall; it is a surrender to divine love, which seems only possible with supernatural grace. She also represented complementarity — the blessed difference between men and women, by God’s design:
Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s murderer. So what are the limits of forgiveness?
Every year of mankind’s fallen history witnesses countless sins, large and small. When they are committed against us, it raises the question of forgiveness, since Jesus made it clear that we must be willing to forgive. I remember, in the days immediately following 9/11, people calling Catholic Answers Live confused because their priests had told them that the U.S. must not strike back against the terrorists because of the Christian duty of forgiveness.
Do Animals Go to Heaven?
No theologian likes being asked about the mortal fate of beloved pets, as it’s sure to hurt feelings. With the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, approaching October 4th, I was asked to wade into this increasingly sensitive topic. In short, having lost a sense of our own dignity, we view ourselves more like animals and, in turn, view them more like humans.
What Is a Martyr, in Catholic Theology? And Is Charlie Kirk One? Why or Why Not?
At the massive memorial held for Charlie Kirk, he was declared a martyr several times. Notably, Vice President JD Vance called Kirk a “martyr for the Christian faith,” while President Donald Trump spoke of him as a “martyr for America’s freedom.” Coming just a week after Pope Leo XIV presided at an ecumenical service in commemoration of the 21st-century martyrs in Rome, Kirk’s consideration as a martyr echoes Catholic debates...
Pope Leo XIV Reaffirms Two-State Solution for Holy Land, Warns of Escalating War in Ukraine...
Is the Terrifying ‘Three Days of Darkness’ Prophecy Something Catholics Need to Worry About?
Study: ‘Traditional Liturgical Experiences Predict Stronger Belief in the Real Presence’...
What It’s Like to Interview the Pope...
Pope Leo Has a Jerry Maguire Moment on Sex Abuse...
In the classic 1996 film “Jerry Maguire,” early on our hero, a highly successful agent representing athletes, has a crisis of conscience. In his epiphany, he realizes that his business has become too dominated by money and volume, losing the personal concern for clients that’s supposed to be the heart of the affair. He stays up all night to produce a document – he pointedly calls it a “mission statement” – which he titles, “The Things We Think and Do Not Say.”
Days Before Murder, Charlie Kirk Told California Bishop: ‘I’m This Close’ to Becoming Catholic...
The Conference, and the Moment...
In the same way that political assassinations of the late 1960s defined an era, or the killing of George Floyd did the same in 2020, analysts left and right seem to agree that the murder of conservative figure Charlie Kirk will be likely remembered as — to borrow a phrase — a turning point in the American political story, which has already led to deeper fissures between left and right, and new language and perspectives from the Trump administration.
Blood of St. Januarius Liquefies in Cathedral on Feast Day...
Pope Leo XIV: ‘My Priority Is the Gospel, Not Solving the World’s Problems’...
This Is the One Craft That Really Matters...
What Is the Best Way to Distribute Holy Communion?
Over two decades ago, after being a daily communicant for years, I suggested to an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion what I thought was the best way to distribute Communion into the mouth. I somehow hit a nerve in this individual and it didn’t go well. I decided then to keep quiet ... until now. There are three main things that everyone hopes happens at the distribution of Communion. First, to reverently give the Body of Christ to communicants in a state of grace...
Is Mary the Woman in Revelation 12?
A Catholic Response to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk...
What Does Jubilee Mean in the Bible?
‘Why Are Catholics So Happy?’ Harvard’s Arthur Brooks Has an Answer That Could Change Your Life...
12 of the Best Fall Foliage Hikes in the US — From Alaska to Tennessee...
Roadmaps of Redemption and Salvation...
Two Classics: ‘Crime and Punishment’ and ‘Columbo’...
The Dark Night of the Soul Is Not What You Think...
Anger, Death, and the Inevitable Disregard for the Golden Rule...
People Are Knocking. Here’s How Parishes Can Respond...
‘Hey Culligan Man!’: How My Parents’ ‘Yes’ to Life Changed the World...
In interview with Crux correspondent, Pope talks Ukraine, synodality, polarization, World Cup...
Brian Burch, New US Ambassador to the Holy See, Formally Presents Credentials to Pope Leo XIV...
The Brief, Servant's Life of Newly Canonized Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati...
Pope Leo XIV to New Bishops: ‘Be Builders of Bridges’...
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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—)
