I approach Catholic culture by integrating a variety of disciplines: theology, history, culture, and art. Following the proposal of Christopher Dawson for The Study of Christian Culture as the anchor of Catholic education for our time, my goal is to help people experience the great cultural legacy of the Church Read more…
One of the most common statements in relation to the recent papal election concerned the inappropriateness of political labels in the Church. While it may be true that they shouldn’t belong in the Church, it doesn’t follow that they do not apply to factions and ways of thinking. St. Paul Read more…
From the beginning, the Bishop of Rome exercised influence beyond the Eternal City, becoming a rock of doctrinal orthodoxy that would help the universal Church weather many storms. Rome was never an ordinary city in the history of the Petrine ministry, attracting clergy and faithful alike from across the ancient Read more…
The American continents are mysteriously united under Our Lady’s care, with the entire continents having been placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the United States under the Immaculate Conception. John Grondelski recently reflected on the fittingness of the United State’s patroness as the Immaculate Conception. He Read more…
Rodney Stark’s famous The Rise of Christianity proposed an oft-cited model for Christian growth in the early centuries of the Church: Rather than proposing exact numbers, Stark is simply trying to prove the point that a consistent rate of growth compounds over time, even if it begins with such a Read more…
Everyone can agree on one point at least: ad orientem worship is controversial. I appreciate the thoughtful and detailed response to my Denver Catholic column on ad orientem worship by Fr. Felix Media-Algaba, “Eucharistic Orientation according to Vatican II.” Here are some brief thoughts on his critique of my column. Read more…
My last post focused on the background of the Divine Mercy devotion and St. Faustina’s Diary was actually the first Catholic book I ever read, back in 1995. I went on to read John Paul II’s Crossing the Threshold of Hope and his biography (in the pre-Witness to Hope days), Read more…
This is my second post exploring the connection of East and West in the Church (with the first focused on Orthodox saints brought into the Catholic Church through the Eastern rites). When looking at the relationship of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches (as distinct from the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which Read more…
I just finished reading John Anthony McGuckin’s The Eastern Orthodox Church: A New History. Rather than a traditional chronological history, McGuckin offers reflections on the nature of the Orthodox Church through particular figures and events of history. As a professor at Oxford and publishing the volume with Yale University Press, Read more…
What does it mean to be a Latin rite Catholic? Does “Latin” have much a determining factor on how we worship and understand our life as Catholics. Latin not only served as the basis of Catholic theology in the West, it also served as the basis for law and education. Read more…