General

Anyone who thought the Vatican’s inquiry into the state of the Catholic Church in Ireland was going to be a mere formality got a rude awakening with the announcement May 31 of the high-powered team […]

Such an insight is surely rooted in Benedict’s own love of the Church and in his study and command of Catholic doctrine, but also, more particularly, in his love of the early Church Fathers. For […]

In 1963 Columbia Pictures produced the movie The Cardinal. According to Wikipedia the Vatican’s liaison officer on the project was a young Joseph Ratzinger. In the movie there is a dialogue between a couple of […]

“If the papacy be dead, then the Catholic Church is dead,” wrote Msgr. Ronald Knox around the mid-point of the past century, “and if the Catholic Church be dead, Christ has failed. Close down the […]

The fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s pontificate arrives amidst confident pronouncements of its failure: “Little to Celebrate,” “Besieged by Questions,” run the headlines. But how will Catholics and historians a century from now view it? […]

In his (now famed) Christmas Address to the Roman Curia (December 22, 2005) Pope Benedict contrasted the two ways of understanding the Second Vatican Council. While some have insisted on seeing the Council as a […]

The fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s election may strike many faithful Catholics as a somber occasion in light of the worldwide media campaign against the Holy Father. I prefer to look at things from a […]

The Holy Father has in the highest degree the roles of Priest, Prophet, and King. Of the many things he has done and said, three stand out in my mind as having a lasting influence […]