Search or Browse Commentary
All Catholic commentary from September 2026
Outwitting Human Suffering
United to Christ's Cross, even our suffering can become redemptive. As Fulton Sheen famously observed, we often waste our suffering.
St. Leo the Great’s Teaching on Petrine Primacy
A summary of Pope St. Leo the Great's teaching on the office of the Bishop of Rome, and some samples of his preaching on other topics.
St. Leo the Great’s Teaching on Petrine Primacy
A summary of Pope St. Leo the Great's teaching on the office of the Bishop of Rome, and some samples of his preaching on other topics.
German synodality stalled. Hot air cooling?
At this point we are left wondering, under the relatively mild pontificate of Pope Leo, when someone will realize that it is not the emperor who has no clothes but rather all the little would-be emperors, who apparently see synodality as their chance at ecclesiastical influence. Or, if they already have ecclesiastical influence (as bishops do), synodality might either be an imposition they dare not resist or an opportunity to diffuse their responsibility.
Revisiting: Why early Church debates were more exciting
It is significant, I submit, that the main protagonists in today’s debates are typically identified as 'liberal' or 'conservative.' Only very rarely do we see a controversial stance denounced as Arian or Monophysite or even—dare I suggest—Modernist.
LifeSiteNews: An Autopsy
I remember when LifeSiteNews was on my list of sources to check almost every day to stay up-to-date on what was going on in the Catholic world. Those days are gone.
The treasure the Jesuits squandered
By rights “Mankowski” should be a household name among American Catholics. But during the most productive years of his life he was not traveling the lecture circuit, and his essays were not appearing regularly in print, because he was silenced by his Jesuit superiors: penalized for the “offense” of telling inconvenient truths.
Soul of the Apostolate | Ep. 7—Liturgical Life a Source of the Interior Life
"The Liturgy is a school of the presence of God; and teaches us to stay in the presence of our God as He was manifested to us in the Incarnation! Call it rather a school of the presence of Jesus, and of love!"
From Gloria Steinem to Israel: Catholic Labor Day Quick Hits
The Church once stood alongside the Left on issues where the Left was right. But thanks to the Gloria Steinems of the world, the modern Left largely abandoned its focus on Labor for abortion and sexual ideology.
Fraternal and Paternal Correction
To avoid rash judgment, one should interpret another’s thoughts, words, and actions favorably when possible. Everyone has a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation.
The German bishops’ outcry; the US bishops’ silence
In Germany some AfD supporters may encourage contempt and even hatred for vulnerable foreigners. In the US the Democratic mainstream encourages the killing of vulnerable unborn children.
5.42 St. Alphonsus Liguori: Most Zealous Doctor
St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696 - 1787) was a priest, bishop, spiritual director, retreat leader, musician and composer. Co-founder of the Redemptorists, he was a teacher of prayer, and a very popular confessor, who knew how to bring people to repentance.
A firm No to ‘imperfect’ proposals for euthanasia
At first glance the statement from Archbishop Renzo Pegoraro looks like an extension of an argument that American pro-life activists have been pondering for years. But look more carefully. The situations are different.
9/11, God’s Warning, and the Quarter-Century We Wasted
From the Old Testament all the way up to Our Lady of Fatima, we have been told that war is sometimes a punishment for our sins. That was my read on 9/11. A shot across the bow from God.
9/11 and the need for militant Christianity
Today Europe is being overrun by Islam in both its militant and secularized forms. European society has failed to meet the challenge, not because Islam is overpowering, but because European culture—which once was a Christian culture—lacks the will to resist.
My conference talk on God’s role in artistic inspiration
Earlier this year, on May 30, I was honored to give the keynote address at the first annual conference of the Thomistic Artists Guild in Los Angeles. It was a real blessing and a milestone for me, not only in a professional sense, but even more because for many years I had been wanting to write something about the role of God in artistic inspiration. The video of my lecture, "The Creator Spirit and the Soul of Art," was recently published
Moral Monsters and Forgiveness
As we remember Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and the dangerous disagreements and altercations within our families, it is healthy to ask whether, in some way, we contributed to the injustice and whether pursuing a spirit of forgiveness might prevent us from becoming moral monsters.
The Clancy Trial and the Children Our Compassion Forgets
The Clancy case asks a question larger than the one entrusted to the courtroom. Can we still recognize in the smallest human being a good that precedes our choices and makes a claim upon us? Or have we absorbed an ethic in which the adult occupies the entire moral field and the child exists only within the adult’s experience? A civilization is measured by the place it gives those who have no voice. If we wish to rebuild a culture of life, we should begin again with three names: Cora, Dawson, and Callan. Justice and mercy, when genuine, forget no one.
St. Leo, Patriarch of the West
We continue to look at St. Leo the Great’s reign in expanding circles to see him behaving as the universal pastor in practice that he claimed to be in principle. Future installments will cover his relations with the East, but this one covers his governance as Patriarch of the West. In northern Italy and Africa, Leo had to address disciplinary issues caused by barbarian invasions, while in southern Gaul, he punished an overweening bishop and gave directions on the administration of Penance.
St. Leo, Patriarch of the West
We continue to look at St. Leo the Great’s reign in expanding circles to see him behaving as the universal pastor in practice that he claimed to be in principle. Future installments will cover his relations with the East, but this one covers his governance as Patriarch of the West. In northern Italy and Africa, Leo had to address disciplinary issues caused by barbarian invasions, while in southern Gaul, he punished an overweening bishop and gave directions on the administration of Penance.
Charlie Kirk Was Murdered. But Let’s Talk About “Civility.”
To our friends who are left, or left-adjacent, it is as if they are living in some alternate reality where these things simply aren’t happening. They have no interest in what effect these events may have on the minds of those who don’t think like them, or how it may radicalize some, or how it may “trickle down to the local level.”
How our society fails to serve the common good
The wisdom of Vatican II, in a document released in 1965, applies with an almost eerie prophetic accuracy to the degraded condition of our society today.
Want more commentary? Visit the Archives.
