When my wife and I married, we sang Rory Cooney and Gary Daigle’s “Covenant Hymn.” Based on Ruth’s proclamation to her mother-in-law Naomi, that she would...
Glad You Asked
Glad You Asked is a column that presents informed, enlightened responses to basic questions of Catholic doctrine, history, identity, or pastoral practice.
In February of 1300, Pope Boniface VIII, in the papal bull Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio, declared the first-ever Catholic Jubilee Year. Anyone who made a...
The earliest documented use of the term pro-life was in a book on parenting and child education. The book, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing, by...
Catholic history is full of famous excommunications involving court intrigue and geopolitical conflicts. Henry VIII of England was excommunicated twice: first...
St. Augustine of Hippo, the fourth century theologian, philosopher, and doctor of the church, shaped Christian theology in myriad ways. Multiple Christian...
Conversations among Catholics about trans people and the church often center on questions of inclusion and belonging in relation to church life and teachings...
The Catholic Church, albeit not a democratic nation-state, has one of the most long-standing voting traditions in the world. When a pope dies, their successor...
Any Catholic with an interest in church politics probably knows about the tradition of “papal smoke” when a new pontiff is chosen. Crowds gather in Vatican...
According to the gospel of Matthew, shortly after Jesus was born an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee with his family to Egypt, since...
They say the church is not a democracy…but it still hosts historically important elections. Councils, synods, and even parishes often employ democratic norms...
