For those who have not yet had the pleasure, Villanova University stretches idyllically across Philadelphia’s Main Line, a mere pebble toss from the placid ponds and ivied arches of Bryn Mawr College. Under the stewardship of Peter Donohue, O.S.A, the Augustinian institution is expanding that Ruskinesque landscape, as Villanova looks more and more like Catholic Oxford every day. At the Western edge of its cloistering...

It may not be an official agenda item. But a top priority for the U.S. bishops at their fall meeting next week in Baltimore may well be to get off on the right foot with Pope Leo XIV. Elected in May, Leo’s papacy comes after a complicated 12-year relationship between his predecessor, Pope Francis, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The two parties were widely viewed to be out of sync, with the USCCB facing criticism for downplaying papal priorities and Francis regularly bypassing conference leadership for key appointments.

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Dedication of the St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome. Founded in 324, it’s Rome’s oldest church, the oldest basilica on earth, and a sign of the victory and perseverance of the Church after hundreds of years of Roman persecution. But why do Catholics make such a big deal out of places of worship? Some people criticize our cathedrals and ask...

Revelation 22 is the final chapter of the Bible, and verse 20 contains Jesus’s final words in all of Sacred Scripture. And yet, with almost 2,000 years having elapsed since Christ’s Ascension into heaven, the modern reader might reasonably ask what exactly Jesus meant when He said that He is coming “soon.” The Greek word for “soon” used in these verses is tachy, which can also be translated “quickly.” The same adverb is used in Matthew 28:8...

Feast date: Nov 12

Today, on the day of his martyrdom, Nov. 12, Roman Catholics and some Eastern Catholics remember St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a bishop and monk whose example of faith inspired many Eastern Orthodox Christians to return to full communion with the Holy See.

Other Eastern Catholics, including the Ukrainian Catholic Church, celebrate St. Josaphat's feast day on Nov. 25.

Born in 1580 in the western Ukrainian region of Volhynia, John Kuntsevych did not become “Josaphat” until his later life as a monk. He also was not initially a full member of the Catholic Church, born to Orthodox Christian parents whose church had fallen out of communion with the Pope.

Although the Eastern churches began to separate from the Holy See in 1054, a union had existed for a period of time after the 15th century Ecumenical Council of Florence. But social, political and theological disputes caused the union to begin dissolving even before the Turkish conquest of Byzantium in 1453. By John’s time, many Slavic Orthodox Christians had become strongly anti-Catholic.

During this time, Latin missionaries attempted to achieve reunion with the individual eastern patriarchs. The approach was risky, sometimes politicizing the faith and leading to further divisions. But it did yield some notable successes, including the reunion of John’s own Ruthenian Church in the 1596 Union of Brest.

John was trained as a merchant’s apprentice and could have opted for marriage. But he felt drawn to the rigors and spiritual depth of traditional Byzantine monasticism. Taking the monastic name of Josaphat, he entered a Ukrainian monastery in 1604.

The young monk was taking on an ambitious task, striving to re-incorporate the Eastern Orthodox tradition with the authority of the Catholic Church in the era of its “Counter-reformation.” Soon, as a priest, subsequently an archbishop, and ultimately a martyr, he would live and die for the union of the churches.

While rejecting the anti-Western sentiments of many of his countrymen, Josaphat also resisted any attempt to compromise the Eastern Catholic churches’ own traditions. Recognizing the urgent pastoral needs of the people, he produced catechisms and works of apologetics, while implementing long overdue reforms of the clergy and attending to the needs of the poor.

Josaphat’s exemplary life and zeal for the care of souls won the trust of many Orthodox Christians, who saw the value of the churches’ union reflected in the archbishop‘s life and works. Nevertheless, his mission was essentially controversial, and others were led to believe lurid stories and malicious suggestions made about him. In 1620, opponents arranged for the consecration of a rival archbishop.

As tensions between supporters and opponents began to escalate, Josaphat lamented the onset of attacks that would lead to his death. “You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death,” he protested. “You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd, and you ought to know that I would be happy to give my life for you.”

He finally did so, on a fall day in 1623. An Orthodox priest had been shouting insults outside the archbishop’s residence, and trying to force his way inside. Josaphat had him removed, but the man assembled a mob in the town. They arrived and demanded the archbishop’s life, threatening his companions and servants. Unable to escape, Josaphat died praying for the men who shot and then beheaded him before dumping his body in a river.

St. Josaphat’s body was discovered incorrupt, five years later. Remarkably, the saint’s onetime rival - the Orthodox Archbishop Meletius - was reconciled with the Catholic Church in later years. St. Josaphat was canonized in 1867.

At their fall plenary assembly in Baltimore (texts, videos), the US bishops elected Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, as the conference’s president and vice president.

The bishops also affirmed the advancement of the cause of beatification and canonization of Father Richard Thomas, SJ (1928-2006).

OSV News and The Pillar have been providing extensive coverage of the November 10-13 gathering.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is investigating a claim that Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cádiz y Ceuta, Spain, abused a seminarian over a period of several years in the 1990s. The prelate denies the allegation.

The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology welcomed Mater Populi Fidelis, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new doctrinal note on some Marian titles (CWN coverage).

“The document, with surgical precision, dismantles the title [of Co-Redemptrix] not because Mary does not cooperate, but because the term constructs a misleading image,” Bishop Antonio Staglianò wrote in an article for the Vatican newspaper. “Abandoning ‘Co-Redemptrix’ is not a loss, but a gain in depth.”

“Mary ceases to be a ‘quasi-Christ’ in a dangerous salvific parallelism,” he added. “Instead, she becomes the icon of creaturely dissimilarity before God.”

Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, 88, the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts from 2007 to 2018, has written a book for parish priests and parish councils on the synod on synodality’s Final Document.

In his foreword, Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, praised the book for “revisiting and illustrating the salient passages of that document so that it can be accessed by a wide audience.”

“I also appreciate the critical remarks he occasionally makes about the Final Document, for example, pointing out certain general statements or repetitions,” Cardinal Grech added. “It must be kept in mind that the text was drafted under considerable time pressure, and, ultimately, it is almost surprising that, in such a context, a final draft of such quality was achieved.”

L’Osservatore Romano devoted the most prominent article in its November 11 edition to the effects of climate change on children.

In “Vite in pericolo” [Lives in danger], the Vatican newspaper referred to the United Nations Children’s Fund and the UN Climate Change Conference as it cited “UNICEF’s warning at COP30 in Belém: approximately one billion children live in areas at ‘very high risk’ due to climate change.”

The data “should shock consciences,” wrote Vatican media’s Valerio Palombaro. “Extreme climate events are the second leading cause of malnutrition after war.”

“The combined effects of extreme weather events, widespread poverty, and fragile basic services have fueled a long-lasting nutritional crisis: today, 40% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, and nearly 12 million people live in conditions of acute food insecurity,” Palombaro concluded.