Browsing News Entries
A Meal of Toads and Other Gruesome Punishments...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
Caesarius of Heisterbach (d. 1240) was one of the most popular hagiographers of the Middle Ages. The prior of the Cistercian Heisterbach Abbey, he’s most famous for his Dialogue on Miracles, which was rivaled only by the Golden Legend in popularity. Over the course of a dozen thematic books, Caesarius tells hundreds of miracle stories categorized by themes like Contrition, Confession, Demons, and so on, but the final chapter is what concerns us today...
How Plato Turned Socrates’ Death Into a Blueprint for True Learning...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
I begin my Introduction to Philosophy course by reading Socrates’ defense of the philosophical way of life. Democratic Athens had found him guilty of corrupting the youth, of making the weaker argument defeat the stronger, of not believing in the gods of the city. These are serious charges, but as Plato later argued, they were sham charges designed to hide the shame of all those whose errors were revealed by the Socratic art of question and answer.
On the surprising sanity of Bill Gates on climate change.....
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
I didn’t see this coming. I could hardly believe the news article that came across my desk the other day: none other than Bill Gates was urging climate advocates to rethink their priorities and rhetoric so that their work truly serves the good of the world. Remarkably, he even says something that could have come straight from a papal encyclical...
Gratitude Without Limit...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
The place of gratitude in human life is at once obvious and remarkably complex. Great pagan philosophers (such as Seneca) as well as Christian theologians (such as Thomas Aquinas) have treated it at some length. This much is clear: learning both to be grateful and to express it regularly are central to the art of living a good life.
How to Keep Politics From Colonizing Your Soul...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
We didn’t used to think of the holiday dinner table as a flashpoint for heated family disagreements about health care, abortion, and Donald Trump. But somewhere along the way, we began to...or maybe we were taught to. In 2022, the Biden White House released talking points for correcting your wayward relatives over the holidays. A decade earlier an ad with a young man clad in a plaid onesie...
Pope Leo: Repent Sins, Bear Witness, Foster Christian Unity...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
In the new Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei it is a pleasure to see Pope Leo doubling down on the importance of Christian unity precisely by not watering down the Catholic Faith, but rather by insisting on the absolute truth of the fundamental Catholic creed set forth by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.
The Vatican’s Unhappy Return of Canadian Indian Gifts...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
The Catholic Church in Canada has been backpedaling since 2021, when the reports first appeared of mass graves at the “residential schools” run by Catholic religious orders for children of the indigenous (Indian) tribes. To date, exactly zero such “mass graves” have actually been discovered. But critics of the Church have never let a lack of evidence interfere with a good story, so the narrative endures...
Vatican Reports First Budget Surplus After Years of Deficits...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
The Vatican closed 2024 with a budget surplus of 1.6 million euros ($1.85 million), it said on Wednesday, signalling a turnaround after years of deficits that had frustrated Church leaders, including the late Pope Francis.In its first budget report since 2022, the Vatican said it had seen a "significant recovery" in its accounts last year, thanks mainly to higher donations and strong investment gains.
Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Ankara to Begin First Apostolic Journey to Turkey and Lebanon...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
Pope Leo XIV began the first apostolic journey of his papacy to Turkey and Lebanon from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2. Watch LIVE the major events of this trip at youtube.com/@ewtnnews and follow our live updates of his historic trip:
Heresy Type Indicator: Manichaeism...
Posted on 11/29/2025 09:00 AM (New Advent)
Various psychological tests claim to promote self-understanding. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, for example, helps us identify our personality types. Years ago, perhaps less so today, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was used to screen out potential psychopaths from sensitive professions...