I recently got to tour the papal gardens at Castel Gandolfo, and it was a remarkable experience. They were too lovely for my poor powers of description. Everything we passed was papal property. Papal olive groves, papal greenhouses, papal cypresses; the ancient remains of the imperial summer palace; and, yes, papal chickens and cows! There…
I recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of my conversion to Catholicism. When I think back to the time of my conversion, I remember that it was a season of much optimism in the Church. Everyone seemed to feel that we had turned the corner from the unmitigated disaster that was the 1970’s and 80’s and…
Before we get to the fun and exciting details of the International Answer The Dubia Day!, we need first to understand some background. There was presented to Pope Francis more than five months ago a sort of Theology 101, True-False quiz by some of his more academically minded colleagues from the College of Cardinals. Before…
We have been warning our readers for some time about the increasing and open embrace of preternatural evil in the 21st century world. From a catalog of recent satanic events in culture and public life to undisguised occult imagery in pop culture to the role of “spirit cooking” in the 2016 US presidential election to…
In light of the controversies surrounding chapter eight of Pope Francis apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the role of conscience has taken center stage. The questions for us are: what is conscience and how is it formed? Is it informed only by formal principles that permit exceptions in hard cases, or is it formed both by…
On 17 February, Pope Francis released a letter written for those gathered for the World Meeting of Popular Movements held in California from 16-19 February — a meeting organized by the Vatican. Such meetings regularly take place in the Vatican and are initiated by Pope Francis himself in his attempt to work together with a variety of grassroots…
Der Papst – Sendung und Auftrag (The Pope – Mission and Mandate) Cardinal Gerhard Müller Publisher Herder 608 pages € 29.99 Today, 20 February, the German publishing house, Herder Verlag (Freiburg), has released a new book written by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (Ignatius Press is already preparing an English…
Some time ago, a Catholic priest wrote me a wonderful letter about tradition and youth ministry, which turned into a correspondence that struck me as worth sharing with a wider readership. So many of us face the issues discussed therein, week in and week out. I asked the priest his permission to include some of…
Christ said at His ascension, “Go forth and make disciples of all nations.” This singular command permeates all aspects of Catholic life, both public and private. As Catholics, we are called to conform our entire life to the Gospel message. Conformity with the precepts of the Gospel message – which forms the essence of conversion…
In the past 24 hours, I’ve heard from two separate people who said that if they were in RCIA today, instead of during Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate, they’re not sure they would have gone through with it. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. It won’t be the last. But it raises an important…
Editor’s note: the following letter was submitted to us by a young man currently studying for the priesthood in the United States. Sadly, expressing even these measured thoughts on some of the difficulties facing seminarians in the current ecclesiastical climate could provoke retribution. For this reason, we have agreed to keep his identity anonymous. While…
