Here is Oxford church historian, journalist, and Pope Francis biographer Austen Ivereigh at Commonweal on why the pontiff focuses so much on migration: Yet neither the current scale of the problem nor Francis’s own background is sufficient to grasp why […]
catholicism
Pope Francis: “I think Benedict’s death was instrumentalized”
I recently read a blog post from Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, that used the death of Pope Benedict to score political points. Here is a taste of that post: Ratzinger was a great […]
Teaching John Henry Newman’s “What is a University”
Once again I am teaching “Created and Called for Community,” Messiah University’s first-year core course. Today I taught an excerpt from John Henry Newman‘s 1852 book The Idea of a University. If you are a longtime reader of this blog, […]
Pope Francis: Homosexuality is “not a crime…but it’s a sin”Â
Francis recently spoke to the Associated Press: A taste: Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ […]
Can pro-lifers on abortion and Democratic Socialists work together in Brazil?
Check out this very interesting piece at Jacobin by historian Travis Knoll: In short, [Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] respects religion without instrumentalizing or being instrumentalized by it. Such alliances have come with serious challenges, especially on sexual […]
The Vatican defrocks Frank Pavone
The pro-life election denier and MAGA priest is no longer a Roman Catholic priest. Here is the Los Angeles Times: The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion U.S. priest, Frank Pavone, for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” […]
Metaxas says Biden and Pelosi are not Catholics and anyone who believes otherwise are buying into a “lie” from the “pit of hell”
Metaxas showed-up at a Trump rally in LaTrobe this weekend. The Biden and Pelosi stuff starts at the 2:38 mark: My “favorite” part of this interview is at the 3:10 mark when the Trump-loving Metaxas says that “when somebody lies […]
More John McGreevy on global Catholicism
Check out Carrie Gates’s recent interview with Notre Dame historian John McGreevy. They discuss his new book Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis. A taste: In the book, you address many of the challenges the […]
The global Catholic church
Notre Dame historian John McGreevy: Quick: Name the countries with the most baptized Catholics. You might guess Brazil (172.2 million) or the United States (72.3 million). You might miss Mexico (110.9 million) and the Philippines (83.6 million). You might be […]
Priests in cars in Milwaukee
Over JSTOR Daily, Livia Gershon, with the help of historian Peter Cajka, explains how the automobile changed Milwaukee Catholicism. Here is a taste: With the rise of cars, and especially after 1945, these boundaries loosened. Many Catholics moved out of […]
Catholic historian Christopher Shannon discusses Catholic and Evangelical historiography
If you have been reading Current this week you may have noticed that we featured an interview with historian Christopher Shannon and a review of his new book American Pilgrimage: A Historical Journey Through Catholic Life in a New World. […]
The Author’s Corner with Jeroen Dewulf
Jeroen Dewulf is Queen Beatrix Professor in the Department of German & Dutch Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. This interview is based on his new book, Afro-Atlantic Catholics: America’s First Black Christians (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022). […]
Vin Scully: The guy didn’t just do baseball
Watch: Some context:
Should Catholics promote democracy?
This is the title of a Commonweal podcast with Catholic historian and University of Notre Dame provost John McGreevy. A summary: For most of its history, the Catholic Church clung to a deep skepticism concerning the legitimacy of democracy. But […]
More on Jim Harbaugh’s pro-life views
Last week we did a post on the University of Michigan football coach’s speech at a pro-life event sponsored by Michigan Catholics. In the days since that speech, Harbaugh has elaborated on his pro-life views. Here is ESPN: Michigan football coach […]
Jim Harbaugh: Pro-lifer
The University of Michigan football coach spoke at a pro-life event in Michigan this week. Here is Detroit Catholic: Fr. John Riccardo and coach Jim Harbaugh, two well-known names in their respective professions, were the keynote speakers July 17 during […]
The Catholic Fox News
I used to occasionally watch EWTN. As a former Catholic (I am confirmed in the church and a friend who is a priest tells me that all I need to do is go to confession and I’m back in), I […]
The anti-Catholicism of some “Catholics” (and Marjorie Taylor Greene)
America contributing editor Bill McCormick S.J. writes on a recent Marjorie Taylor Greene interview with Michael Voris from an organization called “Church Militant.” A taste: For many Catholics, there was no real story in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent interview with Michael Voris […]
Why do Christians give up chocolate for Lent?
Historian Miles Pattenden explains at History Today. Here is a taste of his piece, “The Theology of Chocolate”: Chocolate has a history but, for Catholics, it also has a theology. Long and learned treatises were written about whether it was […]
Revisiting the Catholic baptism pronoun controversy
Last week we brought to your attention the Phoenix, Arizona Catholic priest who resigned after he used the wrong pronoun while performing baptisms. Over at The Washington Post, Michelle Boorstein gets Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit and religion journalist, to […]