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...

Pope Leo XIV said artificial intelligence should support the church’s mission of evangelization, urging Catholic technologists and venture capitalists gathered in Rome to build systems that help spread the Gospel. “Whether designing algorithms for Catholic education, tools for compassionate health care, or creative platforms that tell the Christian story with truth and beauty, each participant contributes to a shared mission: to place technology at the service of evangelization and the integral development of every person,” the pope wrote. Pope Leo’s message was read aloud...

You can tell a lot from verbs. In the cleansing of the Temple scene from the Gospel of John this Sunday, you get some violent ones: Jesus “made a whip,” “drove them all out,” “spilled the coins” and “overturned the tables.” Why was he so angry? Not to exact vengeance, but to correct vices: Priests and merchants were gouging a captive market for sacrificial animals and demanding fees to change money from various regions...

Next week is the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly. I am not making any predictions about what kind of session it will be this year because, frankly, I really do think it could go either way. The bishops are due to convene for the first time under the Leonine pontificate — in which the first American pope has already made it abundantly clear he takes a dim view of publicly fractious exchanges...

One of my fondest memories growing up in the 1980s was the weekly Saturday afternoon creature double feature that used to play on our local UHF station in Detroit. Before the era of streaming and 4k Blu-rays, almost every major city in America had a channel that regularly showed movies like this. My favorite films during this time were the Godzilla films. The tone of these films began in a somber way, but as the series progressed, they catered more to children...

Before I was a priest, I worked for a hospice for a number of years. I am no stranger to death. So much of my experience – especially now as a priest – has confirmed my belief that faith and death go hand in hand; that the full meaning of death is beyond our comprehension. I would like to share a recent experience that confirms this. I received a call recently that someone was in the hospital and they didn’t have long left in this world...

Michael Lentz is an expert on the Normans and the creator of Memory Medieval on Substack, Youtube, and X (formerly Twitter), and he joined me to tell the story of the 11th Century Battle of Civitate, in which the Italian Normans fought the pope’s armies and emerged victorious. But we didn’t just talk about the battle itself...

Names occupy a central role in the Bible. The prophet Joel assures us that “all who call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” In the Book of Proverbs, we are reminded that “[t]he name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Meanwhile, the Second Commandment instructs us not to misuse the divine name: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. It is no surprise, then, that the Catechism highlights for us the overall importance of names...