Benedict XVI: An Apologia for a ‘Smaller Church’

“I had studied Ratzinger's writings in advance and especially his diagnoses of the times.  And I was somewhat stunned to see that Ratzinger's analyses...

Is Religion a Burden?

Religion and philosophy share one precise goal: to explore and explain all the unseen causes behind the visible world of human experience. Philosophy seeks...

Pope Benedict’s First Address on Saint Gregory the Great

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 28 May 2008 Saint Gregory the Great (1) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Last Wednesday I spoke of a Father of the Church little known...

Andre Grasset, Canada’s First Beatus, Martyr in the September Massacres

Blessed André Grassett was the first Canadian to be beatified - not quite the first 'saint', which requires canonization, and that honour belongs to...

Esto Vir! Be a Man

Deacon Kyle Broderson recently gave a talk during which he asked the men in his audience to consider what they most wanted to be...

Two Roads Diverged, But They Both Lead Back to the Basics – and to...

To a scientist—an honest one—the term disruptive is one of approbation. It means something’s been discovered or invented that shakes the continuously ossifying framework...

Pope Benedict and Augustine

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 9 January 2008 Saint Augustine of Hippo (1) Dear Brothers and Sisters, After the great Christmas festivities, I would like to...

Are We a ‘Godly’ People?

According to the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain in his 1952 book The Range of Reason, there are Christians who, to all intents and purposes,...

Saint Louis IX: A Most Christian King

St. Louis IX (1214-1270) has been considered by many to be the greatest king of medieval Christendom. As the quintessential Catholic monarch, he ruled...

Pope Benedict and Saint Bartholomew

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 4 October 2006 Bartholomew Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the series on the Apostles called by Jesus during his earthly life, today...