A popular diagram among conservative Christians depicts a stack of open umbrellas. The biggest one, sheltering the others, is labeled “God.” The next is...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost, O.S.A. as Pope Leo XIV represents a profound milestone in the life of the Catholic Church, with a U.S.-born prelate...
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...
When you think of the word “college” an 850-year-old all-male institution with an average age in the mid-70s may not be the first thing that comes to mind...
They say the church is not a democracy…but it still hosts historically important elections. Councils, synods, and even parishes often employ democratic norms...
What happens when the pope dies? Rituals surrounding the pope’s death begin with the Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, or Camerlengo. The Camerlengo is a...
On Monday April 21, 2025, at age 88, Pope Francis passed away. He had recently spent 38 days in the hospital for double pneumonia. Elected to the papacy on...
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” • John 20:2b Once a year, we as church stand in this same spot and...
“It’s a weird job for a Jew in Tennessee, but somebody’s got to do it.” This is how A. J. Levine, a professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at the...
