A parish built on the successes of past generations may actually be in trouble today because of those successes. That may sound strange—even ungrateful. After all, many of our parishes were built by faithful Catholics who sacrificed, prayed, and served generously. We inherited schools, buildings, programs, and traditions that once bore tremendous fruit...

I would like to thank His Excellency Ambassador George Poulides, dean of the Diplomatic Corps, for his kind and respectful words on your behalf. I welcome all of you to this meeting for the exchange of greetings at the beginning of the new year. This is a traditional occasion in the life of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See; but it is a new experience for me...

If you used a digital camera in the early 2000s, there's a good chance whole chapters of your life have been erased. A generation of photos has vanished on broken hard drives and defunct websites. For my 40th birthday, I asked my friends and family members for one gift: pictures of me in my early 20s...

Human ambition has always had a vertical component. From ancient monuments to modern megastructures, the desire to reach higher seems inseparable from our idea of progress. Here is our look at the tallest skyscrapers standing today, followed by a closer look at the tower that is poised to redefine what “tall” even means.

Only a few minutes separated President James A. Garfield from the beginning of his summer break from the business of the White House. Starting from the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station on the morning of Saturday, July 2, 1881, he planned to retreat to his farm in Mentor, Ohio. But first, the president needed to attend his 25th-year reunion at Williams College...

“War is back in vogue and the zeal for war is spreading,” Pope Leo XIV said in a January 9 speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps. Basing his address on the thought of St. Augustine, the Pontiff made an appeal for a new approach to international collaboration, which “cannot depend on mere circumstances and military or strategic interests.” The annual audience at which the Roman Pontiff speaks to the diplomats...

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on Jan. 9, setting out his diplomatic priorities for the year. The address, traditionally given at the start of the year, is often described as a papal “state of the world” speech. This year’s speech carried particular weight...

When most people think about where God is, they look to the sky or point to a mountaintop. God is ON HIGH. But the reality of the incarnation flips that vision upside down. Christ dwelt among us. God came to the lowest of places to meet us in our brokenness and heal our sin. Did you know the spot where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River is literally one of the lowest places on earth? That can't be an accident...

Scott Adams, the 68-year-old cartoonist who created the decades-long “Dilbert” comic strip, announced he is converting to Christianity amid his deteriorating health caused by terminal cancer. Adams, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May 2025, had previously been critical of organized religion and expressed skepticism about traditional faiths in blog posts and two fiction books

Feast date: Jan 23

St. Ildephonsus was the Archbishop of Toledo, and died 23 January, 667. He was born of a distinguished family and was the nephew of St. Eugenius, his predecessor in the See of Toledo. At an early age, despite the determined opposition of his father, he embraced the monastic life in the monastery of Agli, near Toledo. He was ordained a deacon, around the year 630. He was called by King Reccesvinth, near the end of 657 to fill the archiepiscopal throne of Toledo, where he governed the Church of Toledo for just over nine years and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Leocadia.

Ildephonsus had a strong devotion to the Blessd Mother, and it is said that  one day he was praying before the relics of Saint Leocadia, when the martyr arose from her tomb and thanked the saint for the devotion he showed towards the Mother of God. It was also related that on another occasion the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in person and presented him with a priestly vestment, to reward him for his zeal in honoring her.

The literary work of Ildephonsus is more widely known than the details of his life, and merits for him a distinguished place in the role of Spanish writers.