It is our pleasure to present the commentaries of some reflective people in Europe and in the U.S. who are knowledgeable experts when it comes to the Vatican and the Catholic Faith. Each was asked to write a brief commentary to the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, and they have generously responded. We are very honored…
“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” – G.K. Chesterton The Serpent of Genesis — long identified as The Father of Lies himself, Satan — is unmistakably clever. So much so, in fact, that he is described by the sacred scriptures as “more crafty than any other wild…
In Sankt Pelagiberg, a little Marian Pilgrimage site near Sankt Gallen in Switzerland — and a little way down the slope of the hill of the Church – there stands a modestly adorned field cross, just at the junction of two hiking paths. Under the shielded Cross of Christ Crucified is a plaque with these…
On Saturday, 9 April, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller explicitly commented on the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation on the Family and warns against a dilution of the Catholic Church’s teaching. The cardinal spoke to the German tabloid newspaper, Die Bild, as reported by the German Bishops’ website, katholisch.de. While many of the statements that are quoted here…
This morning was my “big moment”. I woke up at 4:50AM and dragged my tired, exhortation-weary self into the shower to get ready to go on national television for the first time. I was invited to go on Fox & Friends — “the most-watched program on cable television between 6am – 9am ET” — to talk…
Pope Francis has just published his long-awaited Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Amoris Laetitia. In it, he repeats many of the problematic and controversial statements of the previous 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops on the Family. Among these, one finds the law of gradualism with regard to sinful relationships, the claim that there are “seeds”…
Is your prayer life stuck in a rut? It’s time to reconsider your habits. Developing healthy prayer habits can make all the difference. Here are some important practices and habits I’ve learned in recent years–I wish someone would have taught me these when I was a boy. But it’s never too late to learn or to develop…
Part I | Part II Whenever the popes speak about sacred (i.e., liturgical) music, the very first quality they put forward is holiness or sanctity, which they describe as a certain worthiness of or suitability for the celebration of the sacred mysteries of Christ, and freedom from worldliness or even that which is suggestive of…
Minimalism, in its proper context, can be beautiful. We see this in the peaceful feeling of an uncluttered house, a simple graphic design, the clean lines of good architecture, or the stark contrast of a cherry blossom against the white backdrop of a Japanese silkscreen print. But when it comes to Catholicism, there is a danger in…
“Boldness should be the eleventh commandment.” – Mother Angelica This week, the Catholic world celebrates the life and mourns the death of Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation — known to most simply as Mother Angelica. Among her various accomplishments, she is most heralded as the founder of and driving personality behind the Catholic media powerhouse known…
As the smoke clears in Brussels, my mind turns to the Europe that once was. I love that continent in a way that’s hard for me, as an American, to explain. When I studied history, I was always far more drawn to the Catholic drama of the kingdoms that grew up from the ashes of Rome than…
