A sub-category of News.
June used to be associated with weddings. Marriage is suffering its share of problems. People find all sorts of ersatz substitutes for it; and, if they marry at all, it’s usually later than it’s ever been. For Catholics, marriage is a sacrament. That means it is more than a civil ceremony, more than “a license…
I discovered the writings of Mary Claire Kendall after first reading a revealing article titled “Hemingway’s Catholic Heart”[1] in the prestigious magazine Saint Austin Review, edited by Joseph Pearce. Well-documented and filled with significant biographical details, the article confirmed for me the influence of the Catholic faith on Hemingway’s life and work. Although always accompanied…
This June, if you’ve been driving along Interstate 80 or spending time in Lincoln or Omaha, you may have noticed something new—a series of billboards featuring the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It’s part of a listener-led effort made up of Spirit Catholic Radio listeners, created to share a message of love, hope, and faith with…
Opus Dei critics are obsessed with corporal mortification, the practice whereby Catholics embrace sufferings large and small for the sake of spiritual advance. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Leave that tiny morsel on the plate no matter how much you love it. Pause for 30 seconds before digging into that plate of steak…
On a cold February morning in Rome, I stood before a mirror in a rented room, adjusting a black lace chapel veil, preparing for Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The Mass was to celebrate my dear son, Sewell Setzer III, my 14-year-old son, who had taken his own life in our home in Orlando, Florida,…
In a moment that captures the spirit of our cultural age, comedian Stephen Colbert recently celebrated the casting of Cynthia Erivo as Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. The talk show host, who frequently touts his Roman Catholic faith, called the casting “long overdue.” Erivo, a…
When I first entered the grand ballroom of the Hilton in Rosemont, Illinois, in June 2023, I was filled with hope. The Coalition for Canceled Priests’ “A House United” conference promised to galvanize support for marginalized clergy who had been silenced for upholding traditional Catholic teachings. As someone dedicated to building authentic Catholic communities, I…
In order to ensure privacy, the names used in this piece have been changed. It was one of the hardest phone calls of my life. A day that I had predicted would come years ago, but always hoped and prayed that I was wrong. “I don’t have control over anything right now. This is the…
Nationalism is all the rage these days, at least on the political Right. For many on the Right, this has become their default position, opposed to the globalism of the Left. Fault lines persist, however. Some see nationalism as primarily based upon ethnicity and shared culture; others promote a “civic” nationalism which downplays these and…
The election of Pope Leo XIV has brought attention back to the pontiff from whom he took his papal name: Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878-1903. Specifically, it has highlighted what the 13th Leo is most known for: the introduction of modern “Catholic Social Teaching,” which can be found in many of his writings,…
