Great Unsung Composers of Christendom...
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Palestrina, the great composer of sacred polyphony, whose masterful compositions for the sacred liturgy have been described by Catholic musicologist Susan Treacy as “a cathedral in music.” Palestrina was so much the musical voice of the Catholic Reformation in the sixteenth century that he is rightly revered as one of the most important composers of all time...
Pope Leo XIV Names Omaha Priest as New Bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri...
14 Things We Learned About Pope Leo XIV From His Brother’s Latest Interview...
Ever since his brother was named pope, John Prevost hasn’t been shy about talking to the press. Pope Leo XIV’s first phone call with his brother went viral, after a reporter captured it on video (“Why don’t you answer the phone,” the newly elected Pontiff had snapped at his brother in a highly relatable sibling interaction captured for posterity). Now, in a wide-ranging, half-hour interview with NBC’s Chicago affiliate...
The Fake UN Report That Undermines the Lanciano Miracle — and Why Catholics Must Speak Up...
In case you haven’t heard of it, here’s the story. Tradition holds that the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano occurred in Italy around A.D. 750. This is the oldest known account of the bread and wine turning into human flesh and blood when a doubting priest pronounced the words of consecration. Over twelve centuries later, in 1970-71, both species were analyzed by Dr. Edoardo Linoli...
No Snark. No Politics. Nothing But Merriment From Another World...
Frank Fontaine was a devout Catholic, of rock-solid devotion to the Church and to his wife and their eleven children. Jackie Gleason was a bad Catholic, with a soured marriage and a wayward eye. “Jackie doesn’t practice it,” said Jack Haley, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, himself a devoted Catholic, “but he believes it.” Both Fontaine and Gleason were tireless in works of charity, and for Fontaine that was the more impressive...
This Sunday, Urgent Words From Jesus, Our Lord, Coach, and Trainer...
The Church gives each of us an unexpected opportunity on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. The readings at Mass offer an exclusive, personal expert trainer and coach in what matters most in our life: Jesus Christ himself. Here are five takeaways drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: Jesus sounds like a coach in the Gospel from Luke, and the Second Reading, from Hebrews, says that’s exactly what he is...
What happened to the Blessed Virgin Mary after the crucifixion?
What do we really know about the life of Mary beyond what the Bible tells us? Scripture gives us only glimpses of the Blessed Mother before she vanishes from history, only to reappear in the Book of Revelation as the “woman clothed in the sun.” We have the last words she speaks, resonating down the through the ages as a message to all who follow: “Do whatever he tells you.” The story of the Wedding at Cana is, in fact, the only place in Scripture where Mary addresses the adult Jesus directly.
We need to restore what’s missing in Catholic education...
“I sent my children to Catholic school from kindergarten through college, and now they don’t practice the faith.” It’s painful as an educator to hear these frequent reports from frustrated parents, yet unsurprising when, for decades, we stopped making any serious attempt to pass on the faith. The publishing of The Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992 marked a turning point, inspiring a new generation of textbooks and faith-filled religious educators. Sadly, however, the drift away from the Church has continued. Something still isn’t clicking.
Pope Leo’s First 100 Days: Less Robert, More Peter...
3 Reasons to Do a Staycation...
Consuming Fire: A Reflection on the Upcoming 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time...
Mapped: The Most Turbulent Flight Route on Each Continent...
Chicago-Style Pizza Hand-Delivered to Pope Leo by Catholic Influencers in Viral Video...
Do We Have Vocations to Marriage and Singleness?
What Does Acts 1:4 Mean by Saying that Jesus Was ‘Eating Salt with Them’?
Children of Abraham: Let Us Find Another Way to Peace...
Pope Leo XIV Expands Rights for Parents Working in the Vatican...
Judge Declines to Dismiss Father Thomas Rosica Sexual Assault Lawsuit...
Pope Leo XIV’s Sunday Angelus: ‘Invest the Treasure of Your Life in Love and Mercy’...
Humanities Syllabus: Let Them Be Born in Wonder...
A Shocking Record: Lightning Bolt Stretched 515 Miles, Crossed Three States...
The Deeper Meaning of the Transfiguration...
Fire Extinguished in Spain’s Historic Cordoba Mosque-Cathedral, Averting a ‘Catastrophe’...
Sacred Voices: Vatican Choir Marks Palestrina’s 500th in New York...
Spain’s Government Must Approve the Appointment of a Nuncio. Why Hasn’t It?
Learning From Trees Like St. Bernard of Clairvaux...
‘It Was What God Wanted’: How a Mother’s Faith and Youth Group Led 2 Brothers to the Priesthood...
Why America Built a Wall of 220 Million Trees From Canada to Texas...
Someone once asked Karl Rahner why he remained Catholic. Here’s his sharp response...
We Have an Invisible Vocations Crisis — Not Just Priests, But Marriages Too...
‘If Universe Big How God Real?’ How Light Pollution Foreshadows the Antichrist...
We Prayed to St. Jude — and the Doctors Were Astonished...
Is the SSPX Pilgrimage an ‘Official’ Jubilee Event?
Pope Leo XIV: Bear Christ’s ‘Fire of Love’ to Spread Peace Throughout the World...
Pope Leo XIV Marks 100 Days as Supreme Pontiff...
Here’s How AI Is Being Used to Persecute Christians...
Think you’re just getting bundled ‘school supplies’ from those big box kit companies? Think again...
The Night Father Michael McGivney Saved My Life...
French Bishops Ask That Priest Who Served Time for Rape of a Boy Not Be Promoted...
The Vatican's Hall of Constantine Restored...
They say of Julius II (pope from 1502 to 1513) that he did not choose his papal name in honor of his illustrious predecessor Julius I of some 1150 years earlier, but because of his esteem for Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). Maybe, although the pope’s birth name was Giuliano della Rovere, and Giuliano is a close cognate: Iulius in Latin and Giulio in Italian. As much as any other pope, Julius II is responsible for bringing great art...
YouTuber Captures Incredible Mountain Lion Encounter On Camera...
Prayer Compels Us to Put the Things of God First...
Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, Takes on Extra Job as Parish Priest for 3 Churches...
How to Be as Free as a Dead Man: The Path to Spiritual Detachment...
Today we dive into spiritual detachment: a life-changing practice that unlocks unshakeable joy, deep contentment, and heroic love. If you’ve ever felt your heart chained by worry, ambition, or the need for approval, this episode will set you free. We don’t detach to escape; we detach to love, learning to live in the freedom Christ died to give us.
A Statistical History of Zoo Animal Escapes...
Our Own Personal Love Is Not as Good as the Love of Christ...
But clearly the vast majority of persons throughout the world have not had or do not have a strong Catholic family life, or indeed any Catholic family life at all. What, then, is left? The answer is actually the very thing that is both modelled by a fully Christian family life and inescapably attracts positive attention. In other words the answer is Catholic peace, joy and love...
21st-Century Christian ‘Will Either Be a Martyr or Will Not Be a Christian,’ Says Cardinal...
Vatican Under Fire for Alleged Money-Laundering Dodge...
The Council of Nicaea and the Great Complication...
In the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus of Nazareth asks his disciples “whom do you say that I am?” Almost 300 years later, the West answered at Nicaea that Christ is none other than God begotten of God — “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God ... of one being with the Father.” After that, nothing could ever be the same again. There could be no dimension of human life and activity immune to the ramifications of that confession.
20 Years in Prison — How His Failure Turned into a 100% Success Story...
What Was It Like to Ride the Transcontinental Railroad?
Vatican Overrules Canadian Bishop’s Decision to Close Parish, Again...
Two Augustinians, Two Chairs, One Body in Christ...
When Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, much was made of his nationality, age and pastoral record. However, one detail stood out for those of us who live, teach and pray within the Augustinian family: he was one of us. An Augustinian friar had been elected pope. For the first time in the Church’s long history, an heir of St. Augustine now wears the white cassock. It’s a striking image — a humble missionary priest is seated upon the Chair of St. Peter...
Brown Joeys, Not so Simple, and the ‘Cultural Christian’ Counterculture...
Happy Friday friends, and a happy feast of St. Dominic to everyone. But a special festive greeting to all our friends and readers — in this case the overlap here is about 100% — down in Australia on this feast of St. Mary of the Cross, better known as Mary MacKillop, the first person from the country to be canonized. St. Mary, for those unfamiliar, was born in 1842, the eldest of eight children, and founded the first free Catholic school in the country in 1866...
Emmanuel Community Leader Steps Down...
How the Extinction of the Dinosaurs Gave Us Fruit...
Holiness and Evangelization Are Inseparable...
If you want to be a great evangelist, you have to be a saint.If you want to be a saint, you have to evangelize. This is because holiness and mission are inseparable. Holiness makes our evangelization credible, believable, and attractive. Evangelization makes our holiness bloom as we take on the mission of Christ who was sent to save the world. The two are really parts of one whole life of a disciple.
Dropping the Atomic Bomb Was Wrong. Period...
Are All Religions Different Paths Up the Same Mountain?
Here’s why your ears pop on a plane — along with some tricks to fix it...
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The Complete List of Popes
- St. Peter (32-67)
- St. Linus (67-76)
- St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)
- St. Clement I (88-97)
- St. Evaristus (97-105)
- St. Alexander I (105-115)
- St. Sixtus I (115-125)
- St. Telesphorus (125-136)
- St. Hyginus (136-140)
- St. Pius I (140-155)
- St. Anicetus (155-166)
- St. Soter (166-175)
- St. Eleutherius (175-189)
- St. Victor I (189-199)
- St. Zephyrinus (199-217)
- St. Callistus I (217-22)
- St. Urban I (222-30)
- St. Pontian (230-35)
- St. Anterus (235-36)
- St. Fabian (236-50)
- St. Cornelius (251-53)
- St. Lucius I (253-54)
- St. Stephen I (254-257)
- St. Sixtus II (257-258)
- St. Dionysius (260-268)
- St. Felix I (269-274)
- St. Eutychian (275-283)
- St. Caius (283-296)
- St. Marcellinus (296-304)
- St. Marcellus I (308-309)
- St. Eusebius (309 or 310)
- St. Miltiades (311-14)
- St. Sylvester I (314-35)
- St. Marcus (336)
- St. Julius I (337-52)
- Liberius (352-66)
- St. Damasus I (366-84)
- St. Siricius (384-99)
- St. Anastasius I (399-401)
- St. Innocent I (401-17)
- St. Zosimus (417-18)
- St. Boniface I (418-22)
- St. Celestine I (422-32)
- St. Sixtus III (432-40)
- St. Leo I (the Great) (440-61)
- St. Hilarius (461-68)
- St. Simplicius (468-83)
- St. Felix III (II) (483-92)
- St. Gelasius I (492-96)
- Anastasius II (496-98)
- St. Symmachus (498-514)
- St. Hormisdas (514-23)
- St. John I (523-26)
- St. Felix IV (III) (526-30)
- Boniface II (530-32)
- John II (533-35)
- St. Agapetus I (535-36)
- St. Silverius (536-37)
- Vigilius (537-55)
- Pelagius I (556-61)
- John III (561-74)
- Benedict I (575-79)
- Pelagius II (579-90)
- St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-604)
- Sabinian (604-606)
- Boniface III (607)
- St. Boniface IV (608-15)
- St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-18)
- Boniface V (619-25)
- Honorius I (625-38)
- Severinus (640)
- John IV (640-42)
- Theodore I (642-49)
- St. Martin I (649-55)
- St. Eugene I (655-57)
- St. Vitalian (657-72)
- Adeodatus (II) (672-76)
- Donus (676-78)
- St. Agatho (678-81)
- St. Leo II (682-83)
- St. Benedict II (684-85)
- John V (685-86)
- Conon (686-87)
- St. Sergius I (687-701)
- John VI (701-05)
- John VII (705-07)
- Sisinnius (708)
- Constantine (708-15)
- St. Gregory II (715-31)
- St. Gregory III (731-41)
- St. Zachary (741-52)
- Stephen II (III) (752-57)
- St. Paul I (757-67)
- Stephen III (IV) (767-72)
- Adrian I (772-95)
- St. Leo III (795-816)
- Stephen IV (V) (816-17)
- St. Paschal I (817-24)
- Eugene II (824-27)
- Valentine (827)
- Gregory IV (827-44)
- Sergius II (844-47)
- St. Leo IV (847-55)
- Benedict III (855-58)
- St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-67)
- Adrian II (867-72)
- John VIII (872-82)
- Marinus I (882-84)
- St. Adrian III (884-85)
- Stephen V (VI) (885-91)
- Formosus (891-96)
- Boniface VI (896)
- Stephen VI (VII) (896-97)
- Romanus (897)
- Theodore II (897)
- John IX (898-900)
- Benedict IV (900-03)
- Leo V (903)
- Sergius III (904-11)
- Anastasius III (911-13)
- Lando (913-14)
- John X (914-28)
- Leo VI (928)
- Stephen VIII (929-31)
- John XI (931-35)
- Leo VII (936-39)
- Stephen IX (939-42)
- Marinus II (942-46)
- Agapetus II (946-55)
- John XII (955-63)
- Leo VIII (963-64)
- Benedict V (964)
- John XIII (965-72)
- Benedict VI (973-74)
- Benedict VII (974-83)
- John XIV (983-84)
- John XV (985-96)
- Gregory V (996-99)
- Sylvester II (999-1003)
- John XVII (1003)
- John XVIII (1003-09)
- Sergius IV (1009-12)
- Benedict VIII (1012-24)
- John XIX (1024-32)
- Benedict IX (1032-45)
- Sylvester III (1045)
- Benedict IX (1045)
- Gregory VI (1045-46)
- Clement II (1046-47)
- Benedict IX (1047-48)
- Damasus II (1048)
- St. Leo IX (1049-54)
- Victor II (1055-57)
- Stephen X (1057-58)
- Nicholas II (1058-61)
- Alexander II (1061-73)
- St. Gregory VII (1073-85)
- Blessed Victor III (1086-87)
- Blessed Urban II (1088-99)
- Paschal II (1099-1118)
- Gelasius II (1118-19)
- Callistus II (1119-24)
- Honorius II (1124-30)
- Innocent II (1130-43)
- Celestine II (1143-44)
- Lucius II (1144-45)
- Blessed Eugene III (1145-53)
- Anastasius IV (1153-54)
- Adrian IV (1154-59)
- Alexander III (1159-81)
- Lucius III (1181-85)
- Urban III (1185-87)
- Gregory VIII (1187)
- Clement III (1187-91)
- Celestine III (1191-98)
- Innocent III (1198-1216)
- Honorius III (1216-27)
- Gregory IX (1227-41)
- Celestine IV (1241)
- Innocent IV (1243-54)
- Alexander IV (1254-61)
- Urban IV (1261-64)
- Clement IV (1265-68)
- Blessed Gregory X (1271-76)
- Blessed Innocent V (1276)
- Adrian V (1276)
- John XXI (1276-77)
- Nicholas III (1277-80)
- Martin IV (1281-85)
- Honorius IV (1285-87)
- Nicholas IV (1288-92)
- St. Celestine V (1294)
- Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
- Blessed Benedict XI (1303-04)
- Clement V (1305-14)
- John XXII (1316-34)
- Benedict XII (1334-42)
- Clement VI (1342-52)
- Innocent VI (1352-62)
- Blessed Urban V (1362-70)
- Gregory XI (1370-78)
- Urban VI (1378-89)
- Boniface IX (1389-1404)
- Innocent VII (1404-06)
- Gregory XII (1406-15)
- Martin V (1417-31)
- Eugene IV (1431-47)
- Nicholas V (1447-55)
- Callistus III (1455-58)
- Pius II (1458-64)
- Paul II (1464-71)
- Sixtus IV (1471-84)
- Innocent VIII (1484-92)
- Alexander VI (1492-1503)
- Pius III (1503)
- Julius II (1503-13)
- Leo X (1513-21)
- Adrian VI (1522-23)
- Clement VII (1523-34)
- Paul III (1534-49)
- Julius III (1550-55)
- Marcellus II (1555)
- Paul IV (1555-59)
- Pius IV (1559-65)
- St. Pius V (1566-72)
- Gregory XIII (1572-85)
- Sixtus V (1585-90)
- Urban VII (1590)
- Gregory XIV (1590-91)
- Innocent IX (1591)
- Clement VIII (1592-1605)
- Leo XI (1605)
- Paul V (1605-21)
- Gregory XV (1621-23)
- Urban VIII (1623-44)
- Innocent X (1644-55)
- Alexander VII (1655-67)
- Clement IX (1667-69)
- Clement X (1670-76)
- Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89)
- Alexander VIII (1689-91)
- Innocent XII (1691-1700)
- Clement XI (1700-21)
- Innocent XIII (1721-24)
- Benedict XIII (1724-30)
- Clement XII (1730-40)
- Benedict XIV (1740-58)
- Clement XIII (1758-69)
- Clement XIV (1769-74)
- Pius VI (1775-99)
- Pius VII (1800-23)
- Leo XII (1823-29)
- Pius VIII (1829-30)
- Gregory XVI (1831-46)
- Blessed Pius IX (1846-78)
- Leo XIII (1878-1903)
- St. Pius X (1903-14)
- Benedict XV (1914-22)
- Pius XI (1922-39)
- Pius XII (1939-58)
- St. John XXIII (1958-63)
- St. Paul VI (1963-78)
- John Paul I (1978)
- St. John Paul II (1978-2005)
- Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
- Francis (2013-2025)
- Leo XIV (2025—)
