The Augustinian Pope: Four key themes of Leo XIV

The Augustinian Pope: Four key themes of Leo XIV By Matthew Becklo on Feb 27, 2026 03:00 am As the saying goes: When a person tells you who they are, believe them. So I argued after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, last year. Standing on the loggia of [...] Read in browser » BREAKING: Pro-abortion professor backs off leadership appointment at Notre Dame after backlash By EWTN News on Feb 26, 2026 11:46 am Multiple U.S. bishops had come out against the appointment of Professor Susan Ostermann to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, which was announced in January.A pro-abortion professor at the University of Notre [...] Read in browser » Pro-life activist questions inclusion of Candace Owens in speaker’s bureau By Anna Farrow on Feb 26, 2026 04:30 am Amanda Achtman is a Canadian Catholic pro-life advocate. Ethics Director for Canadian Physicians for Life and founder of the Dying to Meet You project, Achtman has built a reputation for herself as an articulate and [...] Read in browser » Where do bishops come from? The divinely appointed overseer By Dr. R. Jared Staudt on Feb 26, 2026 04:00 am This last year, the world watched as the cardinals gathered in Rome for the election of a new pope, the 267th bishop of Rome. New York recently received a new archbishop, and Denver is preparing [...] Read in browser » Paul Thigpen, theologian who explored ‘wondrous’ question of extraterrestrial life, dies at 71 By EWTN News on Feb 25, 2026 04:10 pm A convert to Catholicism, Thigpen wrote prolifically on saints, the Blessed Mother, and the possibility of intelligent alien life, among other topics. Paul Thigpen, the noted theologian and convert to the Catholic faith known for [...] Read in browser » “We need to know where we are going”: An interview with Bishop Erik Varden By Carl E. Olson on Feb 25, 2026 06:00 am Editor’s note: This interview, originally published at CWR on November 14, 2024, is reposted as an introduction to those readers who want to know more about Bishop Erik Varden, who has been leading the Lenten [...] Read in browser » The Casaroli myth vs. the historical record By George Weigel on Feb 25, 2026 04:00 am Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Vatican Secretary of State from 1979 to 1990—and before that, the architect and chief diplomatic agent of the Ostpolitik of Pope Paul VI—initially played hard-to-get when I tried to interview him for [...] Read in browser » “Extra, extra!” News and views for Wednesday, February 25, 2026 By CWR Staff on Feb 25, 2026 03:00 am How Have the Popes Treated the SSPX? (National Catholic Register): “As the Society of St. Pius X is again on the brink of schism, perhaps a more traditional approach from the Holy See would serve [...] Read in browser » No, AI does not have human-level intelligence By Dr. Edward Feser on Feb 24, 2026 03:12 pm In an article at Nature, Eddy Keming Chen, Mikhail Belkin, Leon Bergen, and David Danks ask, “Does AI already have human-level intelligence?” and claim that “the evidence is clear” that the answer is Yes. (Though the article [...] Read in browser » Where does the Catholic Church stand on vaccines? By EWTN News on Feb 24, 2026 02:22 pm Reports of measles outbreaks at several Catholic sites around the U.S. recently have raised fears of disease exposure and reignited debates about vaccines in the U.S. The Catholic Ave Maria University near Naples, Florida, reported [...] Read in browser » Actress and producer Siobhan Fallon Hogan reflects on faith, family, and film By Paul Senz on Feb 23, 2026 06:15 pm You might not know the name Siobhan Fallon Hogan, but you almost certainly recognize her face. A prominent character actor for the last three decades, she has appeared in films including Forrest Gump, Only You, Men in Black, Holes, Daddy [...] Read in browser » Varden: Don’t use the Gospel as a weapon By EWTN News on Feb 23, 2026 11:43 am Norwegian Cistercian Bishop Erik Varden opened the Vatican’s annual Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia by urging Christians to resist using the Gospel as a political weapon and to measure authentic faith by fidelity to [...] Read in browser » Saint Polycarp of Smyrna: Father of the Church and apostle to Protestants By Dawn Beutner on Feb 22, 2026 06:00 pm Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was not the first Protestant who decided to become a Catholic after reading the Fathers of the Church. And he’s not alone. The Coming Home Network, a group established to [...] Read in browser » Remembering Angelo Gugel By George Weigel on Feb 22, 2026 05:34 pm Those who remember the epic pontificate of St. John Paul II may recall a tall, handsome layman with well combed, iron-grey hair, dressed in a black business suit, white shirt, and black tie, following the [...] Read in browser » Ecclesia in Africa at 30: Cardinal Ambongo calls it an ‘urgent’ roadmap for the continent’s Church By Ngala Killian Chimtom on Feb 22, 2026 04:00 am Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the Archbishop of Kinshasa and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), recently emphasized the enduring relevance of Pope Saint John Paul II’s 1995 Apostolic Exhortation, [...] Read in browser » Bishops continue to urge Notre Dame to reverse ‘scandalous’ appointment of pro-abortion professor By EWTN News on Feb 21, 2026 05:20 pm U.S. bishops are continuing to criticize the University of Notre Dame over its controversial decision to appoint a pro-abortion professor to lead a university institute. The school has been under sustained criticism since it announced [...] Read in browser » Poet, martyr, and Saint: On the remarkable talent and inspiring faith of Robert Southwell By Dawn Beutner on Feb 21, 2026 04:00 am Every martyr’s death is different. When Bishop John Fisher of Rochester was brought to Tower Hill to be executed for treason against King Henry VIII, he was so sick that he had to be carried [...] Read in browser » Through the desert, back to the Tree of Life By Carl E. Olson on Feb 21, 2026 03:30 am Readings: • Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7 • Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 • Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19 • Mt 4:1-11 Several years ago, I was at dinner with a group of people, including a priest. [...] Read in browser » Gates of Heaven is the daring conclusion of an unusual, powerful Catholic trilogy By Amy Welborn on Feb 20, 2026 10:30 pm In his most recent novel, Gates of Heaven (2025, Wiseblood Books), Glenn Arbery wraps up the complex, fraught, and evocative chronicle of friends, families, and foes working out their salvation in the contemporary American South and West. [...] Read in browser » Archbishop declares nullity of marriage between 2 transgender persons in Argentina By EWTN News on Feb 20, 2026 06:42 pm The archbishop of Corrientes, Argentina, José Adolfo Larregain, confirmed that the marriage between two transgender persons, which took place in January in the archdiocese, has been annulled because it did not meet the requirements established [...] Read in browser » Saint Peter Damian and the wounds of the Church By Dawn Beutner on Feb 20, 2026 12:00 pm In 1298, Pope Boniface VIII decided to name four saints as Doctors of the Church to recognize their excellence as teachers of the Catholic faith and to honor the enduring impact of their thought on [...] Read in browser » Society of St. Pius X says it will consecrate bishops without papal mandate despite Vatican warning By EWTN News on Feb 20, 2026 10:10 am The Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) says it will proceed with plans to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without a pontifical mandate, despite a Vatican warning that the move would represent a [...] Read in browser » ‘Rome of Pakistan’ celebrates 125 years of Catholic faith and witness By EWTN News on Feb 20, 2026 10:04 am The village of Khushpur has produced bishops, priests, nuns, and unofficial martyrs — and its faithful now face a new struggle to save their farmland. Silence settled over the cemetery of Khushpur, Pakistan’s largest Catholic [...] Read in browser »