Phil Lawler continues: Brilliant insights at a new pace

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 06, 2026

If memory serves, I first met Phil Lawler around 1995 when we both turned up at EWTN headquarters in Irondale, Alabama to discuss separate new Catholic initiatives with Mother Angelica. I actually worked on some early Internet projects with EWTN, but I never was good at marching to someone else’s drum, no matter how acceptable the pace, and it wasn’t long before I left to establish a somewhat more aggressive website named PetersNet. Meanwhile, Phil had decided to launch his own Catholic World News service.

Both initiatives got going in 1996, within two years of the genesis of the World Wide Web. No, we didn’t invent the web, but some young upstart once called me the “grandfather” of the Catholic internet—and, if so, Phil was right there as the grandfather of web-based Catholic news. Fortunately, my non-profit corporation, Trinity Communications, was able to develop the technology for both Phil’s Catholic World News website and our own site.

Phil chose a subscription model to distribute the news and I chose a donation model to distribute the array of Catholic content available through PetersNet, which became CatholicCulture.org in 2003. As things turned out, the subscription model was not viable, while the donation model worked out reasonably well.

The result was that Phil sold the Catholic World News website and the rights to its news coverage to Trinity Communications while actually continuing to produce and provide the news to Trinity through his own corporation, Domus Enterprises. From this base, he served as the Director of Catholic World News for Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org until his retirement from that position at the beginning of this year (2026).

A remarkable run, and not done yet

As Phil explained in My last day on this job, he will continue to play a role in news analysis for CatholicCulture.org. Moreover, the work of identifying and generating the daily news stories will now be undertaken entirely by Trinity Communications staff whom Phil himself has trained.

This is a new phase in an important history. For nearly twenty years, CatholicCulture.org, with news under the direction of Phil Lawler, has been a leader in reporting on Catholic issues in a way that enables readers to discern not only what is most important about each new development but how each development either enhances or detracts from the authentic mission of the Catholic Church. Obviously, nobody can be absolutely correct all the time in assessing the likely positive or negative impact of each new development when viewed from an authentically Catholic perspective. But I think it is safe to say that Phil Lawler has been on target more frequently than anyone else in the business of Catholic news analysis.

Happily, even as he leaves much of the daily news grind behind, Phil remains committed to providing us with news analysis and commentary on the most important issues facing the Church today. This means that in addition to the daily news stories we pick up and report based on reliable sources around the world, we will continue to have the benefit of Phil’s insight and analysis on the most pressing Catholic issues, right here on CatholicCulture.org.

Meanwhile, we continue to look for new writers who can round out the Catholic insights for which we believe CatholicCulture.org has justly become known and valued. In addition to Peter Wolfgang, who has become a regular writer for us over the past year and a half, we have presented original pieces by David Bonagura and, beginning today, by a young First Things associate editor, Jacob Akey. In addition to podcasting work, Thomas Mirus is writing more often about contemporary issues. And even I sometimes still say something at least partially intelligent about contemporary Catholic affairs…if only by accident.

But the goal of CatholicCulture.org remains the same: In everything we present, to give each reader and listener a deeper understanding of both the challenges facing every Catholic today and the kind of commitment it takes to become not only a better-informed Catholic but simply a better Catholic—a Catholic increasingly likely to understand and commit to effective renewal.

Phil Lawler has been contributing to that mission on a daily basis for most of his adult life, and specifically on CatholicCulture.org for twenty years. Thankfully, he intends to continue making that contribution, even if on a slightly smaller scale. That is extraordinarily good news—for we have never had a clearer voice, nor a surer guide.