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Insights provides critical perspective on the issues that affect your life as a Catholic today. Delivered twice weekly.
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The Church's hard teachings on the Jews
In a recent article for a secular publication, Cardinal Dolan rightly condemned antisemitism. In the process, though, he unfortunately (whatever his intention) gave a false impression about Catholic teaching on the Jews. I address this sensitive question in my response: When attacking...
When the conclave comes
Phil Lawler has some advice for being a savvy judge of reporting about the Catholic Church: What to do when the conclave comes. Jeff Mirus on a statement by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church: When Churchmen seek to rally earthly troops. The fifth anniversary of the COVID lockdown and...
On change and revolution
As of Monday afternoon, we have this update on Pope Francis’ health: Pope’s condition improved. Please continue your prayers. In Catholic commentary, Peter Wolfgang continues the discussion about the predicament of Ukraine, explaining why, despite the unimaginable hardships...
False compassion, that dope-dealing doctor
I’ve written something about the false categories we put ourselves in to avoid conversion: Your sexual pathology doesn’t make you special. Phil Lawler asks: When will we fully embrace the Council? (But you’ll have to click to find out which Council he means!) Jeff...
A happy death?
Whatever our opinions on the success or failure of Pope Francis’s leadership of the Church, he is accepting his illness with considerable grace and generosity: Pope reflects on frailty, thanks faithful for prayers, prays for peace. Here is the latest medical bulletin: Pope stable after...
A just man in an unjust war
Please continue to pray for Pope Francis as his condition worsens, above all for his soul. And if we haven’t started praying for his successor yet, perhaps we should. As Jeff Mirus elaborates, this is A pivotal moment—for both State and Church. The headline of this email refers to...
Uncertainty for Francis, Ukraine
Please join us in continuing to pray for Pope Francis and the Church. The latest update we have is “critical but stable”: Vatican prayer vigils as Pope’s condition remains critical [updated Tues PM]. Perhaps because the news on the Pope’s health has been so confusing, on...
The Catholic Vice President
A number of our items this week have to do with debates over the Catholicism of J.D. Vance. The issues can be framed with this news story: Vance offers profession of faith at DC conference. Vance’s understanding of his faith has been questioned by those, including Pope Francis, who...
The Pope's medical condition
Pope Francis is hospitalized with double pneumonmia which thus far has not responded well to treatment. His condition is unclear, though he has reportedly made regular phone calls from the hospital. Please join us in prayer for the Holy Father. We are updating our reports as new information...
The Pope’s disastrous letter on immigration
Please remember to pray for the health of Pope Francis’s body and soul, as he has more and more health problems: Pope Francis hospitalized for bronchitis treatment, Vatican says. The biggest Catholic story this week has been the Pope’s letter to the US bishops criticizing the...
Trump all over again
Obviously, American President Donald Trump can be a polarizing figure, but it is possible to question what ought to be polarizing in a healthy society and what ought not to be. I think many Catholic leaders get this wrong, and I offer my own take: Trump’s antics and the highest human...
Rethinking parish life
David G. Bonagura, Jr. made his debut writing for Catholic Culture this week. In The Conundrum of Parish Involvement, he argues that when it comes to getting the laity more involved in parish life, the focus should shift from “ministries” to social activities (some of which certainly...
Pope Francis turns to children
Once again we live in interesting times in America (one could hardly call the morally horrifying Biden Administration “interesting”). But what we might call the thoughtful Catholic media is noticing the emergence of a new Catholic “right” with increasing political...
Continuing the immigration debate
I have just published an essay about an excellent method of learning Latin that I have used with great results. I hope it helps any Catholic who wants to learn the language or teach it to others. Dreamt of learning Latin? Here’s how you’ll finally do it. Phil Lawler continues his...
Policies domestic and foreign
We in the United States are about a week into the second presidency of Donald Trump, and our columnists have much to consider. For example: Peter Wolfgang reflects on the Trump Inauguration and March for Life. Fr. Jerry Pokorsky notices The Hypocrisy of Modern Warfare. And Phil Lawler...
Was Biden just excommunicated?
The story my subject line refers to is so new that it hasn't been formally reported by any Catholic media yet (including us). But I couldn't help but include it in this email at the last minute: it turns out that on January 19, the day before leaving office, President Biden became a...
Life's changes and challenges
Adding to reflections on the socio-political-religious shifts taking place among Catholics in the United States, Peter Wolfgang uses a Catholic publication as a jumping off point: The Lamp magazine, assisted suicide, and the difference between Gen X and Millennial Catholics. Working from a...
Catholic continuity across the ages
It's wonderful to see how the Catholic faith offers us a historical continuity that allows us to draw lessons from times very unlike our own. Jeff Mirus reviews Archduke Eduard Habsburg's second book, Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World: The Habsburgs on marriage and...
Movies and the Pope's Bio
In his role as co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast, Thomas Mirus has to watch and evaluate more movies than end up being featured in the podcast. So once a year, he looks back and recommends those he has found most valuable: The best movies I watched in 2024 includes several...
Defending our humanity against AI
There is increasing speculation and concern about the role of AI in the future of the arts. Surprisingly, many Christians are already embracing the use of AI to produce images of the saints. If the question of AI interests you at all, I highly recommend listening to the latest Catholic...
Best books we read in 2024
It’s time once again for the annual round-up of The best books Catholic Culture staff read in 2024, which Thomas Mirus has put together once again: Recommendations from Phil Lawler, Peter Wolfgang, Jim Papandrea, myself, and of course Thomas, who has included books and articles, plus some...
A new year of grace
We are very pleased to start off this new year with the fifth series within our long-running Way of the Fathers podcast. Dr. James Papandrea will now go beyond the Fathers to the Doctors of the Church, beginning with: 5.1 The Doctors of the Church—Introduction. We also have a new episode...
The first person consecrated to Jesus through Mary?
Merry Christmas from all of us at Catholic Culture! And happy feast of St. John the Evangelist. You might say he was the first person to consecrate himself to Jesus through Mary - well, actually that might have been St. Joseph - but at any rate St. John is the archetype of Marian...
The Expectation
After what felt like a very short Advent, Christmas is around the corner. Our latest commentary focuses on preparation: Phil Lawler on the Expectation of the Virgin Mary Jeff Mirus on the O Antiphons and Advent hymns We've also got a new YouTube clip, in which Timothy Flanders and...
One more week to prepare!
I was pleased to see how Phil Lawler has commented on the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris—the thoughts that should be going through our own heads in response to such a potentially great occasion: What the re-dedication of Notre Dame (should have) taught us. The restoration of a great...
Our thanks to you
I must begin this email by offering my profound thanks to everyone who donated to Catholic Culture's fall fundraising campaign, which successfully concluded last night. I also thank those who prayed for us. The best way we can thank you, aside from our prayers in return, is to run this site...
A penitential theme for Advent
At the Catholic Imagination Conference a few weeks ago, Thomas Mirus gave a talk on the Vatican Film List. You can enjoy that, along with his entire conference session, here: My panel on Catholic cinema at Notre Dame’s Fall Conference. Also in video, we have an excerpt from the...
It is Advent, not Christmas!
This week Phil Lawler reminds us that we Christians should not jump into Christmas prematurely. See: Wishing you a restless Advent. And, again, for ideas on how to live Advent, visit our Advent Workshop. Phil also comments on a crucial matter for prayer in our Supreme Court, which further...
The blood of Campion was a seed for the Church
In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Walpole wrote a poem about the martyrdom of St. Edmund which became enormously...
Spiritual highlights and an urgent need
Even over this extended Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, our writers and podcasters have some new items to keep you spiritually focused. For example, in his latest inspiring episode of Way of the Fathers Dr. James Papandrea asks Who Was Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite? He was a huge...
Lost pro-life history
It's a precarious moment for the pro-life movement. The outcome of the recent election carries with it both opportunities and risks. One of those risks is that in the push by non-religious conservatives for a "moderate" position, committed pro-lifers will become even more...
Two new saints for the young
Jeff Mirus comments on some great news from the Vatican this week - Halos for two: Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. Phil Lawler discusses the more vexing side of Vatican policy in two new articles: Here’s why the ‘zero tolerance’ policy is going nowhere...
