Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo boldly proclaimed today that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, so long as you don’t count King David, or Joshua, or Gideon, or Samson, or Elijah, or Hezekiah, or any of those other people in the Bible. Pope Leo further stated that you must … Read more
On a February day, 48-year-old Courtney Seard boarded the jet and settled in for the four-hour flight from London to Istanbul. To her dismay, a little boy in the row behind her began kicking the back of her airplane seat. In a March 2 article on Today.com, A Child Wouldn’t Stop Kicking Her Airplane Seat. … Read more
So what happens when you live in a country where people take potshots at you every other day or so? Well, unless something like October 7th happens, or Islamists blow themselves up, you get pretty used to dealing with the peril and get on with your life. Hamas and Hezbollah have been lobbing rockets at … Read more
A legal battle over two statues in Quincy [Massachusetts] raises the question: Must the public square be secular? TWO 10-FOOT bronze statues — one of St. Michael the Archangel, the other of St. Florian — are locked away in a storage facility in Randolph, casualties of a legal theory that treats the public display of … Read more
A leading cardinal and former secretary of the Roman Curia has spoken to the Catholic Herald about the state of the Church, the role of the papacy, and how Catholics should approach authority. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described the veneration of the private and … Read more
At the dawn of the 1950s, as atheistic communism was seeping into the West from the Soviet Union and as godless secularism and hedonism were on the rise in America, achieving the disastrous watershed known as the Sexual Revolution some years later, a Catholic bishop stood before a camera, a chalkboard over his shoulder, ready … Read more
The Miraculous Medal Related PostsThe Miraculous Medal: St Maximilian Kolbe’s weapon for evangelization What the Miraculous Medal Has Done for Me
I am a confirmed hater of New Year’s Eve parties and a skeptic of New Year’s festivities in general. There is nothing more dispiriting than the spectacle of people pretending to have a good time on New Year’s Eve, except possibly the less crowded tragedy of people pretending to be madly in love on Valentine’s … Read more
… you rarely (if ever) hear the following phrases. “Party like it’s A.D. 1570!” “We should sing more plainchant at this parish.” “I’d like to thank the choir for their sublime rendition of the Mass For Five Voices by William Byrd.” “I just love the way the four torchbearers process in with such dignity.” “People … Read more
It wasn’t 1985 anymore, and he wasn’t in Bedford Falls. It was 2016: Barack Obama sat in the White House as the most pro-abortion president in history, and same-sex marriage had become legal in every state. In just three years as pontiff, Pope Francis had unsettled the hearts of millions of faithful Catholics with a … Read more
Undoubtedly, it often happens that you try to correct certain depraved and dishonest people who are under your care, but every effort and concern is in vain. They are incorrigible, so they have to be put up with. Such incorrigibles are already in the Church. How then will you separate yourself from them so that … Read more
Steubenville, Ohio — In this industrial, Rust Belt city in northeastern Ohio, just across the Ohio River from West Virginia and mere miles from the Pennsylvania border, something special is happening. No, it isn’t the idyllic Nutcracker Village displays that adorn downtown at Christmastime. Nor is it the latest tribute to the town’s most famous … Read more
When I tell people I go to Christendom College, the reaction is almost always the same: a raised eyebrow, a polite smile, and then, “Wait, that super strict Catholic school?” Yep. That’s the one. To be honest, I kind of thought the same thing before I enrolled. I wasn’t raised Catholic. I’m a convert who … Read more
There is a phrase I have always disliked, which is often found in obituaries or profiles of prominent people: “he didn’t/doesn’t suffer fools gladly”. Sometimes, I am sure, it is used to convey the idea that an individual is or was impatient with humbug, excuses or persistent incompetence, which can be a useful and admirable … Read more
Last night, after writing a piece in which I quoted the late Father Paul Mankowski, I realized that the day was the 5th anniversary of his sudden death from a brain aneurysm. Veteran CatholicCulture readers knew Father Mankowski primarily as “Diogenes,” the pseudonymous writer who contributed hundreds of witty comments to this site. Other faithful … Read more
The intense focus on the dailly minutia of the Holy Father can veer into unhealthy voyeurism. Not long ago, Rich Raho, a high school teacher with a not insignificant audience on 𝕏, posted a picture of Pope Leo along with this: “Every pontificate has a defining moment, and Leo’s ‘moonlight speech’ tonight was one of … Read more
This year marks the centenary of the birth of the controversial Catholic writer, Flannery O’Connor. During her life, she suffered greatly from the debilitating effects of lupus, the disease which would eventually kill her at the age of only thirty-nine. In one sense, however, she is still very much alive, because she refuses to let … Read more
When St. Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, his life was changed. A Catholic summer camp ministry based in Ohio — but expanding around the country — hopes to give young adults the opportunity to have a similar, life-altering encounter with Christ, but with the help of paintball, zip-lining, and Eucharistic adoration. Now … Read more
He who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2 Many have fallen by the … Read more
Eric and Grace Morrison have never pressured their seven children to pursue the priesthood or religious life. Their son Danny, who is a transitional deacon in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., jokingly describes his vocation story as “boring.” There was “no big turnaround moment of conversion, but just this slow call of the Lord throughout … Read more
G.K. Chesterton also came to Christianity and eventually the Church through being grateful for the world. He felt gratitude long before he became a Christian. The idea of “taking things with gratitude, and not taking things for granted” was, he wrote about a year before he died, “the chief idea of my life.” If he … Read more
The incense is rising again. Not just in Gothic cathedrals or Latin Mass enclaves—but in the hearts of young Americans who, against every cultural current, are swimming upstream toward Catholicism. It’s a phenomenon that baffles secular elites and liberal Protestants alike. How, in this age of deconstruction and digital nihilism, could the Church of hierarchy, … Read more
“DEI,” the woke religion’s hellish moniker, is in fact a blasphemous facsimile of the Catholic Church, in word and in deed. In another example of the culture co-opting and distorting something holy, DEI has become a popular acronym for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And it’s no coincidence when we say this movement is not of … Read more
Y-Studs – Don’t Stop We’re Leavin’ – Passover Related PostsIn Praise of Jewish Labels Jewish Students Under Attack Hate From Both Sides You Can’t Defend Israel Unless You Talk About Islam Not Deceived by Hamas, Israel Will See This Fight Through
One of the greatest gifts of the Human person is the capacity to speak. It is also one of our greatest weaknesses. The Book of James says, We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect!, able to keep their whole body in check. When we … Read more