The Dispatch
Fides et ratio: An encyclical even more relevant today than it was in 1998
The philosophical currents that troubled John Paul II two decades ago and moved him to write Fides et ratio haven’t disappeared. […]
Pope Leo XIII
Columns
Thomism and Political Liberalism, Part 1
The Catholic debate about the value of political and economic liberalism ebbs and flows. In the past few years in the U.S. it has become particularly public and intense (see here, here, here, here, here, […]
Columns
Why St. Thomas?
The Church has given the title “doctor” to some of her saints. In Latin doctor means “teacher” and the doctors of the Church are teachers of a very special sort. Pius X calls them “our […]
The Dispatch
Pope Francis and the “religion of humanity’
As individuals move away from organized religion, they begin to search elsewhere for meaning in their lives. Some turn to relationships, to work, or to politics. In doing so, they become creatures not of God […]
The Dispatch
Whose republic? Which “liberalism”?
Extra credit question: Name the author of this admonition about the insecure cultural foundations and potentially perilous future of the American republic — “Seeds of dissolution were already present in the ancient heritage as it reached […]
Features
Why ‘classical’ charter schools can’t replace Catholic education
As principal of a “classical” Catholic school and a lifelong advocate for the liberal arts, I am excited by the growing classical school movement—which now has reached even many public charter schools. Catholic families are […]
Essay
Newman’s Canonization: A Summons to Truth
Once the news came out today that John Henry Newman (1801-90) would soon be made a saint, after the Vatican announced that the pope had formally approved a second miracle attributed to the great convert’s […]
The Dispatch
The heart of Advent: “Awaken! Remember that God comes!”
Readings: • Jer 33:14-16 • Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 • 1 Thes 3:12-4:2 • Lk 21:25-28, 34-36 “We preach not one advent only of Christ,” wrote St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century, […]
Books
Vatican I, Pius IX, and the problem of ultramontanism
John W. O’Malley’s new history of the First Vatican Council provides an impartial and detailed account that offers both historical context and insight into the […]
Essay
Economics, Technology, and Virtue
The explosive development of automation, robotics, and AI requires a dedicated focus on the role of conscience—our spiritual life—to help us respond to the challenges […]