When James Joyce used the phrase “here comes everybody” to describe the Catholic Church, he wasn’t kidding. The glorious, and also maddening, thing about Catholicism is that it contains both everything and the logical opposite of everything. Two headlines on Crux yesterday make the point anew: “Amazon bishops pledge poverty...

In our world of recriminating hatreds—in which we desire more to label those we don’t like as sexist, imperialist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, and, simultaneously, mark ourselves as victims—we often forget some important historical truths. Here’s one we conveniently ignore, dismiss, or mock: Nothing in the world has brought about more equality and justice than has the Christian religion...

The current Amazonian synod is a reminder that the struggles of Catholic missions to indigenous peoples is nothing new. Today is the memorial of St John deBrebeuf and his companions. The Jesuit missionaries to North America endured the most amazing hardships to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to tribal people who were locked in superstition...

Here is the story behind the remarkable comic book that has captivated millions since its first publication. The story is recounted on the final page of the printed issue. Here is a brief summary, along with some added details. John Paul II was on a tour of the Pacific in 1981 and spent 3 days in Japan, February 24-26. During that visit he had several major appearances in a country that has a very small Catholic minority...

Full disclosure: I do not want to write this blog. I do not want to write this blog because most people read things on the Internet, not to seek genuine dialogue in pursuit of the Truth, but to see which ideological camp you fit in and whether, based on that designation, they can applaud or discredit you off-handedly. I also do not want to write this blog because liturgy conversations online are a hornet’s nest and...

When godlessness reigns, it’s not surprising to see false gods rise in response to the human hunger for spiritual fulfillment. It is surprising, however, to see people turn to death to fulfill their lives. In recent decades, a cult has risen out of Mexico with an unholy rival to the Virgin of Guadalupe: Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte—Our Lady of Holy Death...

A video uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 21 shows two men taking several wooden figures of a nude pregnant woman from a church near the Vatican and throwing them into the Tiber River. The figures have been present at several events connected to the Vatican’s Amazon synod and have been the subject of considerable controversy: Some have characterized them as images of the Blessed Virgin Mary...

When the sisters at the Monastery of the Sacred Passion in Erlanger, Kentucky, walk into their bakery several days a week, they are going to work at one of the most important physical labors in the Church. The cloistered sisters more than 745 miles north in Westfield, Vermont, and those 542 miles west in Clyde, Missouri, and others in a handful of monasteries from Brooklyn to Arizona will do the same...

Against the backdrop of a Synod of Bishops on the Amazon dedicated to the defense of some of the world’s most impoverished people, the Vatican finds itself rocked by yet another financial scandal after publication Sunday of seamy details about a $200 million purchase of a swanky 183,000-square-foot apartment building in the Chelsea district of London...

This Sunday’s readings speak to us of the power of persistent prayer. The first reading (Exodus 17:8-13) in particular depicts prayer quite powerfully. In it, we can discern six fundamental teachings on prayer. None of us like problems, but one good thing about them is that they help to keep us praying. Israel was at war and her enemies were strong; it was time to pray...

Because Pope Francis so often cites both the substance and the spirit of Vatican II as an inspiration for his papacy, there’s a tendency to assume he’s sort of the Latin American reincarnation of St. John XXIII, the pope who convened the council and who was canonized by Francis in 2014. In reality, however, one could make the argument that the Vatican II figure to whom Francis is closest actually isn’t John XXIII but rather Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro of Bologna...

There are periods of prayer that must endure "storms of destruction" (Psalm 57:1). These storms can be exterior events - whether meteorological or else political, sometimes familial. Currently, it seems we are in the midst of an ecclesial storm. There are also internal storms. There are tempests of temptation that, if you ever timed them...

Wouldn't it be amazing to see the tallest mountain on the planet from an airplane window? Just imagine yourself nestled in your seat, sipping on a coffee and admiring that snow covered mountain peak! The only problem is that planes don’t fly over Mount Everest, or the Himalayan range, for that matter. But why?

David Tran is the man to thank for the Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce you douse your scrambled eggs with every morning. You know the stuff. Red bottle with a green cap and a rooster on the front—plus five languages on the bottle—this simple sauce connects people from different cultures and backgrounds...

In 1968, Jane Porter, a British Catholic, was living as an undergraduate student in Brazil but after contracting an illness, she fell victim to a “false” healing carried out by an indigenous, pagan religion in a “Catholic” setting. The effects, she says, led to “far greater suffering” that lasted for decades. In this interview with the Register...

There are different ways to look at life, and two of these are captured in a couple of seemingly contradictory sayings. The more famous aphorism is this one: “The perfect is the enemy of the good,” but you’ll also hear its converse: “The good is the enemy of the best.” The second expression cautions that we sometimes settle for something that is merely good enough when we should be aiming higher; excellence is certainly something for which to strive...

Do you remember the scene in The Road where the boy and his father discover an untouched, perfectly stocked survival bunker? The hungry nomads happily gape as they take in crate after crate of canned goods, an unbelievable oasis in an otherwise desolate, apocalyptic landscape. The pair liberate the contents of the cans with an opener...

How to fix a book: first, gather your tools. The bone folder that feels familiar in your hand, the knitting needles still sticky with glue, the X-Acto knife, the tiny Tupperware of glue. Then, diagnose the damage. If there’s scotch tape, grab the lighter fluid. If the book is on its last leg, worn out, prepare to make a box. Check that the guillotine is free...

Twenty prisoners live in one small room. They are handcuffed, their heads shaved, every move is monitored by ceiling cameras. A bucket in the corner of the room is their toilet. The daily routine begins at 6 A.M. They are learning Chinese, memorizing propaganda songs and confessing to invented sins. They range in age from teenagers to elderly...

At the press conference on Monday, October 14 Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican dicastery for communication, was asked why updated statistical data have not been released on the religious affiliation of inhabitants of the Amazon, seeing the impetuous growth of the Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches, at the expense of the Catholic Church...