Essay
The Plague
“A furious plague . . . burst like a blast on the land, thinning the population and throwing the work of the world into ruin. There was a shortage of labour; a difficulty of getting […]
History
Features
Lessons from History on the Coronavirus Pandemic
In a recent article for Catholic World Report I offered some “lessons from literature on the coronavirus”, focusing on the three chapters in Manzoni’s classic novel, The Betrothed, which are set during the plague that […]
Essay
Recourse made once again to Mary, Salus Populi Romani
Perhaps no man ascended to the throne of St. Peter in more difficult circumstances than Pope Gregory, who is most justly called “the Great”. When he became pope in 590, the city of Rome lay […]
History
The church that stands at the spot of Christ’s birth
The place rendered sacred by the birth of the Savior does not look like one would expect it to. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem looks more like a dilapidated fortress than a basilica. […]
Essay
Rewriting the Future: The story of the modern Catholic scenario for the End Times
Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt, vigilemus. Ecce minaciter imminet arbiter ille supremus; The world is very evil; The times are waxing late; Be sober and keep vigil, The Judge is at the gate.i Bernard of […]
Features
Why did the Wall fall, 30 years ago?
November 9 marked the 30th anniversary of the peaceful breach of the Berlin Wall — the symbolic high point of the Revolution of 1989, which would be completed seven weeks later by the fall of […]
Books
A Jesuit Empire
Few things are more central to Christianity than missionary activity. Yet missionary work is never just about spreading the Christian faith. It inevitably has political, cultural, and economic dimensions. Some of Counter-Reformation Catholicism’s greatest missionary […]
Features
When the Mother of God came to America
On October 8, 1871, a terribly tragic and almost entirely forgotten episode in American history took place. Strong winds came to northeastern Wisconsin and fanned the flames of small fires begun by farmers attempting to […]
Features
Cardinal Newman 101: An introduction to his life, work, and thought
This October 9 will be the last time that John Henry Cardinal Newman will be invoked as “Blessed” on his feast, for on October 13, he will be declared a saint. What most Americans know […]
Features
The Crusade of Saint Francis
Critics frame the Crusades as an act of aggression from an expansionist Christendom upon an unsuspecting and peaceful Muslim world. This view totally ignores the fact, however, that the these religious wars of the medieval […]