People are sometimes confused by my accent. “Are you English?” they ask. Not with a name like mine! No indeed. I am a Yank through and through. I was brought up in Pennsylvania and went to college in South Carolina, but the English accent thing is because I overdosed on C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot and [...]

As we approach a quieter, simpler holiday season amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Lord is giving us an opportunity to focus on what is essential: our faith and our family. Along with the hardships and the fears, the pandemic has given many busy families the chance to step back from overbooked schedules, spend more time [...]

I once overheard in a grocery store: “Darling, not everything you want is good for you.” There it was: in one simple phrase, the wisdom of a mother who knows that she should not buy whatever dessert or snack her child is asking for. Holy Mother Church has—or once had—the same wisdom for her spiritual [...]

Regardless of who wins the presidency, the more “centrist” wing of the Democratic Party has taken a substantial hit in the third Congressional election year in a row. Against all media expectations, Republicans picked up congressional seats. So did the Democrats’ radical, socialistic wing that is now trying to push Joe Biden to the left [...]

“With filial affection, I embrace the threshold of the home of my birth, giving thanks to divine Providence for the gift of life passed on to me by my beloved parents, for the warmth of the family home, for the love of my dear ones, who gave me a sense of security and strength, even [...]

Father James Martin, S.J., says Catholics must place orphan children with homosexual men, or else they become guilty of a new sin: homophobia. He says religious liberty should not be used as a cover for this new sin. He also compared sodomitical relationships with (of all things) Methodism. After all, just like sodomites, Methodists don’t [...]

It was a crisp November morning. As I watched the state trooper firmly leveling the brim of his hat and striding toward my car, many things went through my mind. Foremost, the mixture of curiosity and embarrassment over what my two sons were thinking in the back seat and that the flashing lights somehow looked [...]

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.” — Francis Cardinal George I had [...]

No matter the results of this election, one thing is clear: half of America has announced through its vote that it does not implicitly trust the public health experts. As both Donald Trump and Joe Biden made clear time and again, part of this election was a referendum on the pandemic and its management. Mr. [...]

The latest step of our descent into selfishness and perversity is a trend called “platonic parenting.” A woman finds a stud male who is pleasant enough, who will be her “friend,” who will make no claims upon her, so that he can get her pregnant and they can raise the resultant experiment together while they [...]

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been very clear in its characterization of the most important issue in this election: “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority.” Other issues—immigration, racism, poverty and the death penalty—are of great importance and require urgent attention, but even though they are prominent issues, abortion is preeminent among them. [...]

Today is the feast of the Blessed Emperor, Charles I of Austria-Hungary. The release of my new biography of the saintly monarch last month have for obvious reasons brought him to my mind in recent days. Added to this is the impending dedication of the 16th shrine in his honor in these United States, at [...]

I once had the unenviable task of explaining to Thomas Howard what the alt-right is. “They’re white nationalists,” I said, “but they also oppose the ascent of libertarians in the Republican Party.” “I see.” He nodded. “And what’s a libertarian?” That one I couldn’t bring myself to explain. It would be an honor to say [...]

Pope John Paul II once said that, “In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences.” That is one way to explain why a Polish pope, dedicated above all to defending the dignity of the human person, would step onto the world stage just as the most powerful country on earth was about to [...]

The priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which every Christian priest shares, is the source of holiness in the Church and the impetus for all evangelization. Through the ministry of the priest, Christ’s lay faithful are nourished with the Word of Life and the Bread of Life; their sanctification makes possible the sanctification of the world. [...]

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath (Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.) And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain, Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain, And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the [...]

How odd that the first known owner of the Shroud of Turin should be, not some wealthy cardinal or powerful lord, but a knight. Now, granted, Geoffroi de Charny was no ordinary knight. He was, by all accounts, the most capable soldier in the service of France during the Hundred Years’ War and the most [...]

It’s September 11 as I write, just shy a full 20 years from the day that changed America. Veterans of my generation—the one that responded after 9/11—have a joke. As children just sorting out language, we believed the word “veteran” was synonymous with “old person.” Looking in the mirror today, we now find ourselves disconcerted [...]

Recently I told a very eligible young bachelor about the career advice I give to young women. He asked if I would share my advice with a young woman in whom he has a romantic interest. Here is my advice. Dear Jane, Congratulations on your graduation from college. You probably think your next step is [...]

“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” asserted Abraham Lincoln during his acceptance speech for the Illinois Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate in 1858. Three years later Lincoln would be sworn in as President of the United States and would be leading his country through the American Civil War. Of course, Lincoln did not [...]