The Insights eNewsletter
Insights provides critical perspective on the issues that affect your life as a Catholic today. Delivered twice weekly.
» Subscribe
Persistence for good!
In rich commentary this week I want to call your attention to the following: Phil Lawler: What the NY Times missed in the latest encyclical: the whole point Peter Wolfgang: It’s not 2004 anymore: The stale Catholic debate over voting ignores new threats Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: Reckless...
Encyclical on the Sacred Heart!
You may already know that Pope Francis released his new encyclical on the Sacred Heart on Thursday. It is well worth reading. Here is our coverage: News story: New papal encyclical urges devotion to Sacred Heart My guide to the encyclical: The new Sacred Heart encyclical:...
Synodal wrap-up and other news
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky leads off this week with the oddly-titled Chicken Man, which is really a tale of the unflagging energy Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ has expended to revive an authentic Catholicism. Meanwhile, I have reflected on the story about gender-change procedures in Catholic hospitals, and...
Synod proceeds despite confusion
I had mentioned Cardinal-designate Fr. Timothy Radcliffe’s faulty remarks on African opposition to homosexuality in my last commentary, but Phil Lawler addresses it directly in: Father Radcliffe blames the Russians—not the Bible. Meanwhile, another Cardinal-designate, Carlos...
Are you welcome in the Church?
There has been too much in the news recently about Catholics “in good standing” who use their positions to subvert what the Church teaches. Usually this is a matter of trying to make the Church accept what “everybody knows” to be true. Consider my latest: What it means to...
On Columbus Day and the Synod
Even very fine historical developments have their bad points, often owing to the typical admixture of human sin. This could be said of synodality, I suppose, but since we are due to celebrate Columbus Day in the United States on Monday, I am first thinking of the angst and the outcry over that....
Deviations from the truth
Pope Francis has announced that he will create 21 new cardinals on December 8th; some of the picks are more controversial than others. Phil Lawler breaks down the list in a news analysis. In particular, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., while not outright dissenting from Church doctrine on...
Praying for peace with the two Francises
During the Fifth Crusade, St. Francis of Assisi famously traveled to the Middle East with the desire of bringing about peace (specifically, he hoped to convert the Sultan of Egypt or be martyred trying). It's appropriate that we celebrate his feast just before the first anniversary of the...
Synod retreat underway
In light of the news that the Catholic University of Louvain has sharply criticized Pope Francis and the Pope had to defend his statements on abortion, on women, and on war in his flight interview, in my commentary today I consider Francis, false hopes, and the Church’s Divine...
Only chastity can stop abortion
Over the past few days, our commentaries have centered in various ways on the extraordinary selfishness and lack of self-control which characterizes Western culture today: Peter Wolfgang reminds us that Abortion is about sex. Duh. I see sad trends that give rise to a question: Do Catholic...
Evil ambition against the Church
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky's latest homiletic essay, Ambition, deals with this human trait in its good and evil manifestations, including with reference to abortion. This sets the stage for our latest current events commentary, which features dissenters within the Church and enemies outside it, both...
Faith in a time of socio-political disintegration
If this year’s election is reminding you of the futility of seeking salvation in politics, you’re not alone. Dr. Jeff Mirus argues for why we have to focus on real spiritual solutions: Faith in a time of socio-political disintegration. Meanwhile, Peter Wolfgang brings up a troubling...
Hot buttons of faith
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky has written a new homiletic essay entitled Hot Buttons of the Faith. It is a very good reminder of the truths so many nominal Catholics today do not like to mention. We should make sure we are not among them. Turning to a very different topic, Phil Lawler has commented...
"Vocation shortage" or failure to respond?
Happy feast of St. John Chrysostom! In our latest commentary, Phil Lawler discusses Church affairs in two areas: Vocation shortage? There’s no such thing. The threat of a runaway Synod Our new columnist, Peter Wolfgang, asks: Did Trump really lose the debate? Jenn...
Planned Parenthood Hacked
Planned Parenthood was hacked last week, and 93 gigabytes of data were spirited away under the threat of disclosure if a ransom is not paid. The time-limit is set to expire this week. This was not any sort of Christian operation, and I am not ready to recommend cyber-attacks as a fruitful...
Our new columnist
I'm sorry that this email was delayed due to technical issues on the website last night - but I'm happy to announce that Peter Wolfgang will be writing a weekly column for Catholic Culture! Peter is a veteran of pro-life and pro-family advocacy in the state of Connecticut and a shrewd...
Angel Studios: Analysis
In a brand new analysis which is fascinating, thorough, spiritually-tuned, and artistically important, Thomas V. Mirus takes a close look at Angel Studios—which used to be responsible for presenting the widely-viewed and generally well-received chronicle of Christ called The Chosen. Must...
A challenging election...and more
Most good Catholics are dissatisfied with the Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, but rightly regard him as far better than the opposition. Today, Bob Marshall explains just how bad the Harris-Walz ticket is in order to emphasize: Trump: The lesser of two evils is a moral choice. In three...
What makes a good diocese?
Please note the particularly rich collection of featured news stories in today’s newsletter, which is shorter than usual since my time is limited. Commenting on the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, Jeff Mirus asks: What makes a good bishop and a good diocese? A case...
Politics and holiness?
Phil Lawler, having considered both Arbp. Jerome Listecki delivering the invocation at the Republican National Convention and Cardinal Blase Cupich at the Democratic National Convention, had this to say: Leading prayers for the culture of death. In my own reflection on the pitfalls of politics,...
What is orthodoxy?
This week we have the season 4 finale of Way of the Fathers with Dr. Jim Papandrea, who has been examining the heresies that plagued the early Church. Of course, we don't study the history of heresies for its own sake, but rather for the sake of a deeper appreciation of orthodox doctrine. So...
Gossip, Truth, Scripture
Watch out, readers! Fr. Jerry Pokorsky has posted a new homiletic essay on Gossip. Presumably, it is directed at all of us.... In my own commentary, I take a brief look at Sacred Scripture’s rhetorical power. It barely scratches the surface, but we could use not only a Eucharistic...
Is apostolic work possible today?
There’s an unusual amount of interesting news this week – the featured stories below don’t even exhaust it. First, though, our commentary: The bishops of Minnesota have congratulated governor Tim Walz on receiving the Democratic nomination for Vice President. Phil Lawler...
Artificial intelligence, living Faith
Yesterday we posted the final installment of Tom Fowler’s illuminating four-part series on AI: Artificial Intelligence: Summary and Conclusions. Most people with opinions on this subject do not understand it. Read the whole series! Of course there are some even more difficult topics: Fr....
Ruthless honesty about disobedience
We only have one piece of written commentary in this newsletter: my review of a new edition of Pinocchio published along with a theological commentary by a Catholic writer. Reading Carlo Collodi's original 1883 novel is striking: though ultimately redemptive, the story derives much of its...
Blasphemy and Reparation
By now everybody has heard about the blasphemous portrayal of the Last Supper in the opening ceremonies to the Olympics in Paris. Bishops from around the world have objected to this sacrilege. And here is advice on the proper way for Christians to respond to blasphemous acts, from Phil Lawler and...
Politics, yes, but evangelization first
Both Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler have just written articles about why both in the Church at large and in our individual lives, personal conversion and spreading the Gospel must take priority over political engagement: Evangelization: hope for the hopeless (Lawler) Don’t be fooled:...
Politics, yes, but evangelization first
Both Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler have just written articles about why both in the Church at large and in our individual lives, personal conversion and spreading the Gospel must take priority over political engagement: Evangelization: hope for the hopeless (Lawler) Don’t be fooled:...
Martyrs in training?
I am very pleased to introduce Peter Wolfgang to our readers, as he posts his first commentary on CatholicCulture.org: Trump/Vance must undo the harm caused by the RNC platform. Peter, a veteran of pro-life principled pragmatism, is President of Family Institute of Connecticut...
Trump ticket blurs party distinctions
With so many on vacation just now, we have opted for just one Insights message this week...and here it is: To begin, when we weren’t looking, our long-time priest columnist, Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, slipped over the line...into his seventies. And indeed, if we are gifted with many years, this...
Ancient faith
A few years before his death, Ven. Fulton Sheen expressed his intention to write a book about the demonic, which he could see was on the rise around the world. He never got around to a whole book, but now at least we have a collection bringing together what we do have of Sheen's writings on...
Can we do more to make Christ present?
We really do need to find more effective ways to make Our Lord present to our society. That is nothing new, of course, but a secular news story about an attempt to kidnap a baby to offer as a human sacrifice has led me to write Diabolical assault and the absence of witnesses for God. It...
"Freedom's holy light"?
Today's biggest news is that Archbishop Viganò has been found guilty of schism, and declared automatically excommunicated. It's a sad thing - even when an excommunication is necessary and right, it is not something to be celebrated in itself. Though of course, the Church did...
