Catholic Insight

In light of today's readings on this Sunday, and Christ bestowing the papal office on Saint Peter, here is the text of Pastor Aeternus, the dogmatic constitution from the First Vatican Council (1879) defining...

Rose of Lima (+1617), whose birth name was Isabel, was called 'Rose' when a servant saw her face mystically transformed into the beautiful flower soon after she was born. Sure enough, Isabel-Rose would go...

On 23 August 1939, Nazi Germany and the USSR concluded a non-aggression pact that, in reality, constituted a political and military alliance aimed at bringing Central and Eastern Europe under their joint control. The...

A blessed memorial of the Queenship of Mary, - as queen of heaven and earth, of angels and men. Although the Church has always celebrated the glories of the Mother of God, this feast...

As a meditation on this Sunday's liturgical theme, here is a reprise of Palestrina's motet Tu Es Petrus, based on Matthew's 16:18-19. The motet was first published in 1572, at the height of the...

With Robert Fagles’ 1996 translation of Homer’s Odyssey fresh in my mind, I went to see Chrisopher Nolan’s new film a couple weeks ago. My biggest takeaway was that the movie wasn’t that “bad”...

‘Oh what a tangled web we weave/ When first we practice to deceive’ (Sir Walter Scott, from Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field, 1808) I had not heard of Jason Arday until last week, and...

Instaruarae omnia in Christo (motto of Pope Saint Pius X) Saint Pius X (+1914) was the first 'peasant' to be elected Pope in centuries, the bishops of Rome all being chosen from the Italian nobility,...

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 4 November 2009 Two Theological Models in Comparison: Bernard and Abelard Dear Brothers and Sisters, In my last Catechesis I presented the main features of 12th-century monastic theology and scholastic theology which, in a...

GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 21 October 2009 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to talk about St Bernard of Clairvaux, called "the last of the Fathers" of the Church because once...

(Contributor Kaleb Hammond offers here an intriguing historical analysis of J.R.R. Tolkien's small but significant role in the work on the Jerusalem Bible. His translation of the Book of Jonah - modified by editors,...

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 19 August 2009 (Video) Saint John Eudes and the formation of the diocesan clergy Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today is the liturgical Memorial of St John Eudes, a tireless apostle of the devotion to the...

A contemporary of his fellow Frenchman, Descartes, Saint John Eudes (+1680) was of quite a different mind and spirit. Rather that meditate like Descartes on whether he existed or not - cogito, ergo sum...

August 18th is the traditional feast of Saint Helena, a barmaid in Britain who caught the eye of the co-emperor Constantius Chlorus, who married her. Their son was Constantine the Great, who defeated the...

For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Is. 56: 7). In any given region or country, a common language is a source of unity. You may be familiar with...