Catholic popes have issued 240 encyclicals since 1854. The most prolific modern papal authors were those who had reigns of at least 25 years: John Paul II...
Encyclicals
Discover the history and modern relevance of papal encyclicals, from classic teachings to current applications in Catholic life.
About 25 years ago, during the weekly Friday evening Mass in the living room of the Bishop Dingman House of the Des Moines Catholic Worker, a man entered from...
Pope Francis is a pope of the poor and for the poor. However, he is not an academic revolutionary, an armchair critic propounding big theories. What the pope...
It is nearly dawn. The sun has only barely begun to peak its head above the smokestacks and factory rooftops that fill the city skyline. The year is 1898. You...
Sometimes, we feel caught in a maelstrom. Modern life moves at a breathless pace and we despair at keeping up. Pope Francis dubbed this dizzying trajectory...
As I do every year, I spent a long evening back in March watching the Oscars. Sure, it’s a parade of glitzy fashions and often debatable award winners giving...
I recently spent time in a cabin in the woods. For days I had to do things the “old way”; rustic was a repeated word in the brochure about this cabin, and they...
Being Catholic used to mean going to church. That’s what Catholics did before the Second Vatican Council, and we did it a lot. Then came Vatican II...
Pope Francis’ recent declaration, Fiducia Supplicans (On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings), has garnered much attention around the globe, including everything...
The Vatican recently released Dignitas Infinita (Declaration on the Dignity of the Human Person). After the introductory sections, the document addresses...
