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Insights provides critical perspective on the issues that affect your life as a Catholic today. Delivered twice weekly.
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Pope Francis turns to children
Once again we live in interesting times in America (one could hardly call the morally horrifying Biden Administration “interesting”). But what we might call the thoughtful Catholic media is noticing the emergence of a new Catholic “right” with increasing political...
Continuing the immigration debate
I have just published an essay about an excellent method of learning Latin that I have used with great results. I hope it helps any Catholic who wants to learn the language or teach it to others. Dreamt of learning Latin? Here’s how you’ll finally do it. Phil Lawler continues his...
Policies domestic and foreign
We in the United States are about a week into the second presidency of Donald Trump, and our columnists have much to consider. For example: Peter Wolfgang reflects on the Trump Inauguration and March for Life. Fr. Jerry Pokorsky notices The Hypocrisy of Modern Warfare. And Phil Lawler...
Was Biden just excommunicated?
The story my subject line refers to is so new that it hasn't been formally reported by any Catholic media yet (including us). But I couldn't help but include it in this email at the last minute: it turns out that on January 19, the day before leaving office, President Biden became a...
Life's changes and challenges
Adding to reflections on the socio-political-religious shifts taking place among Catholics in the United States, Peter Wolfgang uses a Catholic publication as a jumping off point: The Lamp magazine, assisted suicide, and the difference between Gen X and Millennial Catholics. Working from a...
Catholic continuity across the ages
It's wonderful to see how the Catholic faith offers us a historical continuity that allows us to draw lessons from times very unlike our own. Jeff Mirus reviews Archduke Eduard Habsburg's second book, Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World: The Habsburgs on marriage and...
Movies and the Pope's Bio
In his role as co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast, Thomas Mirus has to watch and evaluate more movies than end up being featured in the podcast. So once a year, he looks back and recommends those he has found most valuable: The best movies I watched in 2024 includes several...
Defending our humanity against AI
There is increasing speculation and concern about the role of AI in the future of the arts. Surprisingly, many Christians are already embracing the use of AI to produce images of the saints. If the question of AI interests you at all, I highly recommend listening to the latest Catholic...
Best books we read in 2024
It’s time once again for the annual round-up of The best books Catholic Culture staff read in 2024, which Thomas Mirus has put together once again: Recommendations from Phil Lawler, Peter Wolfgang, Jim Papandrea, myself, and of course Thomas, who has included books and articles, plus some...
A new year of grace
We are very pleased to start off this new year with the fifth series within our long-running Way of the Fathers podcast. Dr. James Papandrea will now go beyond the Fathers to the Doctors of the Church, beginning with: 5.1 The Doctors of the Church—Introduction. We also have a new episode...
The first person consecrated to Jesus through Mary?
Merry Christmas from all of us at Catholic Culture! And happy feast of St. John the Evangelist. You might say he was the first person to consecrate himself to Jesus through Mary - well, actually that might have been St. Joseph - but at any rate St. John is the archetype of Marian...
The Expectation
After what felt like a very short Advent, Christmas is around the corner. Our latest commentary focuses on preparation: Phil Lawler on the Expectation of the Virgin Mary Jeff Mirus on the O Antiphons and Advent hymns We've also got a new YouTube clip, in which Timothy Flanders and...
One more week to prepare!
I was pleased to see how Phil Lawler has commented on the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris—the thoughts that should be going through our own heads in response to such a potentially great occasion: What the re-dedication of Notre Dame (should have) taught us. The restoration of a great...
Our thanks to you
I must begin this email by offering my profound thanks to everyone who donated to Catholic Culture's fall fundraising campaign, which successfully concluded last night. I also thank those who prayed for us. The best way we can thank you, aside from our prayers in return, is to run this site...
A penitential theme for Advent
At the Catholic Imagination Conference a few weeks ago, Thomas Mirus gave a talk on the Vatican Film List. You can enjoy that, along with his entire conference session, here: My panel on Catholic cinema at Notre Dame’s Fall Conference. Also in video, we have an excerpt from the...
It is Advent, not Christmas!
This week Phil Lawler reminds us that we Christians should not jump into Christmas prematurely. See: Wishing you a restless Advent. And, again, for ideas on how to live Advent, visit our Advent Workshop. Phil also comments on a crucial matter for prayer in our Supreme Court, which further...
The blood of Campion was a seed for the Church
In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Walpole wrote a poem about the martyrdom of St. Edmund which became enormously...
Spiritual highlights and an urgent need
Even over this extended Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, our writers and podcasters have some new items to keep you spiritually focused. For example, in his latest inspiring episode of Way of the Fathers Dr. James Papandrea asks Who Was Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite? He was a huge...
Lost pro-life history
It's a precarious moment for the pro-life movement. The outcome of the recent election carries with it both opportunities and risks. One of those risks is that in the push by non-religious conservatives for a "moderate" position, committed pro-lifers will become even more...
Two new saints for the young
Jeff Mirus comments on some great news from the Vatican this week - Halos for two: Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. Phil Lawler discusses the more vexing side of Vatican policy in two new articles: Here’s why the ‘zero tolerance’ policy is going nowhere...
Blessed Charles, the last Emperor
Thomas Mirus recently spent some time in Austria. While there he read about Blessed Charles of Austria, the last Emperor, who saw the Austrian Empire dissolved during World War I, and who died in 1922 at the age of 35. As a moving reflection on the meaning of Catholic politics, Thomas offers...
The greatest movie ever made?
I’m pulling executive privilege to feature a podcast at the top of today’s newsletter, because it’s about one of my favorite movies: Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. I think every Catholic should watch it because of its combination of themes from the book of Job and from...
Post-Synodal, post-election reflections
This week Phil Lawler has already posted two new commentaries: Who’s behind the violent attacks on the Church? And a very thoughtful discussion of Synodality and the perversion of conscience On Saturday, Peter Wolfgang offered some excellent advice in the aftermath of the...
Taking a post-election breath
I suspect that even many Catholics who chose to vote for, say, the American Solidarity Party rather than for Trump, were relieved at this week's electoral defeat of pro-abortion, pro-gender-ideology radicalism. Yet given the Republican party's abandonment of their former pro-life...
Making America Good
As the American Presidential election balloting continues, Fr. Jerry Pokorsky has no doubt about our own mission: Make America Good Again. Meanwhile, looking back over the history of “Catholic” magazines in the United States, Peter Wolfgang asks: What Hath Commonweal Wrought? Catholic...
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...
