Commentary
Pope St. John Paul II and antisemitism
As the Polish pope taught, it is our civic duty to our fellow citizens of the stock of Abraham, who, not without difficulty, have nonetheless been fully participant in the American democratic experiment for centuries, as witnessed by George…
Book Sheds Rare Light on Newman’s Vision for the Laity
Acclaimed Newman expert Paul Shrimpton says the newest doctor of the Church “foresaw the world we live in and tried to prepare Christians to face it.” Newman taught that the laity have a central and indispensable role who, in Church history, had…
False Patriots – The Catholic Thing
Donald Trump’s re-election felt like more than a mere electoral victory. It was a profound affirmation of American values and an unequivocal rejection of the lunatic ideas of the left, ideas designed to undermine faith, family, and nation. With…
John Henry Newman, Natural Religion, and the Mystery of Faith
On Monday, St. John Henry Newman will be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo. It was Newman’s epistolary exchange with his brother Charles that first set the saint on the road to the composition of An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of…
On ghosts – The Catholic Thing
Can the boundary between this life and the afterlife ever blur in ways the Church has not fully defined? Each year, All Souls’ Day and the Month of All Souls renew age-old questions about life, death, and the mystery that unites both. In popular…
What does Leo XIV’s education letter say?
In Disegnare nuove mappe di speranza, Pope Leo addresses Catholic education. It begins wth a preamble, which describes the world of education today. Leo says we are living in a time of “rapid changes and disorienting uncertainties.” Students are…
St. John Henry Newman against compromise
Jacob Phillips, First Things Thursday, October 30, 2025 Some look for uncompromising faith that offers a genuine alternative to contemporary society. Newman, by contrast, is often presented as the primary forerunner of the world-affirming and…
How Doctors of the Church are chosen
Pope Leo will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the church on November 1st. What criteria are used to make this decision? First of all, the word “doctor” in this sense does not refer to the person who treats your flu or to someone who…
The Death of Halloween – The Catholic Thing
The night of drunken carousing that now passes for Halloween bears little resemblance to the festival of old. Like spiders slurping the innards of a beetle, disenchantment and commercialization have bled it of meaning. And yet the carapace…
Canterbury Fails – The Catholic Thing
When it was announced that the next archbishop of Canterbury would be a woman (Sarah Mullally) with progressive views on homosexuality and abortion, social media erupted with a combination of outrage, congratulations, derision, and triumph. A…