Mythology and what it means to be human

Tenuous unity and problematic blessings in an age of bourgeois love By Carl E. Olson on Apr 24, 2026 01:48 am “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.” — Saint Augustine, Confessions (quoted in CCC 2340) “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by [...] Read in browser » Of war and peace in the Easter season By Dr. R. Jared Staudt on Apr 23, 2026 04:51 pm Jesus’ first words to the disciples after his resurrection were “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). This was the fruit of Easter, resolving the two greatest threats to our peace — the internal discord of [...] Read in browser » Pope Leo XIV, returning from Africa, addresses war, migration, same-sex blessings By Marco Mancini on Apr 23, 2026 03:57 pm Speaking to reporters on his flight from Malabo to Rome, the pope addressed war, migration, same-sex blessings, and the Vatican’s diplomacy with authoritarian governments. [...] Read in browser »  “You are not alone,” Pope Leo XIV assures prisoners during visit to Batá prison By Ngala Killian Chimtom on Apr 23, 2026 01:55 pm (CWR, Yaoundé) On Wednesday, Pope Leo XVI visited a prison in Equatorial Guinea’s capital city of Batá, and offered words of comfort to inmates who might be tempted to view their lives as worthless. Under [...] Read in browser » The perennial brilliance and Catholic vision of William Shakespeare By Paul Senz on Apr 23, 2026 11:00 am Editor’s note: This essay was first posted on April 23, 2021. William Shakespeare, widely considered the greatest writer the English language has ever produced, died on April 23, 1616—and there is some evidence suggesting he [...] Read in browser » “God is alive and well in the modern medical center” By Paul Senz on Apr 22, 2026 08:59 pm The medical profession naturally involves encountering people at their most vulnerable and dealing with some of the most profound suffering that humans face. But it can also be an experience of profound joy, as when [...] Read in browser » German cardinal instructs priests to facilitate same-sex couple blessings By Alexander Folz on Apr 22, 2026 03:38 pm Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, has instructed priests and full-time pastoral staff to introduce the controversial handout “Blessing Gives Strength to Love.” [...] Read in browser » Mythology and what it means to be human By Thomas M. Doran on Apr 22, 2026 04:00 am What does it mean to be human? A simple enough question, right? Until one tries to answer it, or pays careful attention to the host of competing answers in our world. Genetics could answer this [...] Read in browser » Extra, extra! News and views for Wednesday, April 22, 2026 By CWR Staff on Apr 22, 2026 03:00 am A Brief History of Catholic Higher Education (From the Academy): “Whatever they are doing and wherever they are headed now, all modern Western universities trace their origins back to the medieval Catholic universities, beginning with [...] Read in browser » Justice Scalia’s Faith By James Rosen on Apr 21, 2026 04:59 pm On Antonin Scalia’s first day of Catholic education, an expatriate of the New York City public-school system arriving as a freshman at Xavier High School in Manhattan in September 1949, he beheld a most unusual [...] Read in browser » Opinion: Democrats Pretend to Be on “Team Pope” By David Paul Deavel on Apr 21, 2026 01:55 am Editor’s note: This essay originally appeared in slightly different form on AMAC’s “Newsline” and is reposted here with kind permission Just as liberal elites are currently attempting to drive a wedge between Catholics and Evangelicals, they are also [...] Read in browser » St. Anselm: Sounding the charge for religious freedom By Sean Fitzpatrick on Apr 20, 2026 11:00 pm With the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Congress prohibited “the federal government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion unless it demonstrates that doing so both furthers a compelling governmental interest and represents [...] Read in browser » Charlotte Diocese says priest did not violate conduct policies during confession with teens By Amira Abuzeid on Apr 20, 2026 05:35 pm Several families at Charlotte Catholic High School alleged that a priest asked their teenage daughters “inappropriate” questions during confession in December, but the diocese found no wrongdoing. [...] Read in browser » Strong and faithful fathers must first be strong and faithful young men By Susan Ciancio on Apr 20, 2026 01:00 pm A new Gallup poll has found that “young men in [the] U.S. now surpass young women on importance of religion, have slight edge on affiliation, [and] tie on attendance.” Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the [...] Read in browser » Pope Leo in Angola: “… manage conflicts by transforming them into paths of renewal” By Ngala Killian Chimtom on Apr 19, 2026 06:31 pm In a stirring homily delivered April 19, the Third Sunday of Easter, Pope Leo XVI drew a direct parallel between the biblical road to Emmaus and the tumultuous history of Angola, urging a nation still [...] Read in browser » The Resurrection, the Eucharist, and the Emmaus story By Peter M.J. Stravinskas on Apr 19, 2026 09:00 am In the midst of the Easter season, we re-read the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, the Emmaus story, my favorite passage in the New Testament. On Easter night, two lonely, frustrated disciples of Jesus [...] Read in browser » National Infertility Awareness Week: 4 Catholic ministries walking with couples By EWTN News on Apr 19, 2026 08:06 am According to the World Health Organization, about 1 in 6 people globally experience infertility in their lifetime. In the United States, 1 in 8 couples deal with infertility. This year, National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) runs from [...] Read in browser » Pope Leo listens to harrowing tales of Cameroon’s war victims By Ngala Killian Chimtom on Apr 18, 2026 03:15 pm The warmth of the Pope’s reception in Bamenda, which is the epicenter of Cameroon’s separatist violence, was palpable, even while the underlying trauma of the region was impossible to ignore. Archbishop Andrew Nkea welcomed the [...] Read in browser » The road to Emmaus and the reality of the Eucharist By Carl E. Olson on Apr 18, 2026 11:00 am Readings: • Acts 2:14, 22-33 • Psa. 16:1-2,5,7-11 • 1 Pet. 1:17-21 • Lk. 24:13-35 I grew up attending a small Fundamentalist Bible chapel that believed the Lord’s Supper should be commemorated each week. Nearly [...] Read in browser » Opinion: Reflections on a week when madness overwhelmed public discourse By Marcus Peter on Apr 17, 2026 11:06 pm These past few days have given us a series of civic episodes in which the public square seems to lose its mind all at once. Let’s consider just a few of them. Joy Behar said [...] Read in browser » The Secure Bond Marriage Needs Today By Jennifer S. Bryson on Apr 17, 2026 05:57 pm In 1949, Ida Friederike Görres wrote, “That which is unnatural … people say, is indissolubility.” She disagreed. By 1971, when she sent her final book, What Binds Marriage Forever (CUA Press, 2026), to the publisher, she saw [...] Read in browser » Bloodletting and the Triumph of the Cross By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky on Apr 17, 2026 04:51 pm God created man—male and female—in His own image and likeness. Indeed, all of creation carries the Divine imprint. After the Fall, the Devil exploited man’s sin to deface God’s image and likeness in creation through [...] Read in browser » U.S. Embassy to the Vatican: Nigerian Christians are being targeted By Ishmael Adibuah on Apr 17, 2026 11:56 am Ambassador Brian Burch described the situation in Nigeria as a “conflict between radical Islamic groups and Christians because of their faith.” [...] Read in browser »