Every doctrine or practice familiar to Catholics has a history of its own, and some official expressions of church teaching are quite recent, such as the...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
In the 11th century, St. Anselm of Canterbury described theology as fides quaerens intellectum, “faith seeking understanding.” A monk who eventually served as...
On Aug. 6, 1976 Dorothy Day was invited to address the World Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. The date of her talk was, of course, the Feast of the...
You have spoken out strongly in favor of canonizing Dorothy Day. How is she a saint for today? Dorothy herself had a tremendous veneration for the saints. Her...
Simply defined, to sin is to say “no” to God. It is a rejection of God’s free gifts as well as the grace-filled relationship that God always offers. It is to...
We need the example of this woman who tried to live the gospel in the modern world. Imagine this: A grumpy associate pastor rushes into the sacristy to prepare...
This is an article that appeared in the October 1973 issue of U.S. Catholic. We are publishing it as part of our 75th anniversary celebration. Lost in the...
When horrible things happen in the world, it’s natural to seek an explanation. Explanations offer a sense of control and meaning in situations that seem...
The ancient Greek word hairesis meant “choice” and identified one’s intellectual “choice” among the many philosophies of late antiquity. The word originally...
Have you ever had a fist fight about the natures of Christ? If you have, you would fit right in among ancient Christians, says this church historian...
