Catholic Studies publication

“Contextual” Theology and Fiducia Supplicans

George Weigel

What does it mean for the future discussion of “synodality” that so many individual bishops—and indeed entire episcopal conferences—have severely criticized, and in some instances repudiated, Fiducia Supplicans?

Articles

Syndicated Column / January 10, 2024

The MAD Magazine Caricature of U.S. Catholicism

George Weigel

2024 will see an intensifying debate over the complex legacy of Francis’s pontificate.

Syndicated Column / January 3, 2024

The New Year: A User’s Guide

Francis X. Maier

As we start a new year and enter the Church season of “ordinary time,” how can we manage the frustrations that naturally come with Church conflict?

Articles

The Catholic Thing / January 3, 2024

Praying For Our Country With John Carroll

George Weigel

In 1791 Bishop Carroll convoked a diocesan synod, and on November 10 of that year, the synod adopted a prayer for the civil authorities that Carroll had composed.

Syndicated Column / December 27, 2023

Christmas in a Time of War

George Weigel

The God of the Bible cannot command the murder he forbade in the Ten Commandments, because the God of the Bible is a God of reason, and reason cannot contradict itself.

Syndicated Column / December 20, 2023

Cultural Christians and the Work of Remembering

Francis X. Maier

Now, as Christian practice steadily declines in the United States, mom and dad are getting a divorce. The result could get ugly, and the reason is simple.

Articles

Acton Institute / December 20, 2023

Remembering to Forget

Stephen P. White

Forgetfulness, too, is part of God’s Providence. Forgetfulness can even be liberating, as when mercy drowns out regret.

Articles

The Catholic Thing / December 17, 2023

German Catholicism: On the Brink or at the Cutting Edge?

George Weigel

Why is “salvation” in quotation marks in the pope’s letter?

Syndicated Column / December 13, 2023

The Child We Wait For

Francis X. Maier

Advent is a time of preparation for the Christ Child at Christmas. But in an age of endless appetites and distractions, it’s worth reflecting on who exactly that Child is.

Articles

The Catholic Thing / December 6, 2023

When Docs Play Deities

George Weigel

Being the object of misplaced worship by the British public seems to have convinced NHS doctors that they are, in fact, God.

Syndicated Column / November 29, 2023

A “Synodal Reform” of the Papal Conclave?

George Weigel

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day on November 23, my Catholic fellow citizens might take a moment to give thanks for a 120-year-old apostolic constitution that virtually no one remembers—but that is re-asserting its relevance in this troubled Catholic moment.

Syndicated Column / November 22, 2023

Light in the Darkness

Francis X. Maier

Exactly 30 years ago this fall, Christopher Lasch delivered the manuscript for his book, The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, to W.W. Norton his publisher.

The Catholic Thing / November 21, 2023