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Dunstan Thompson's True Love

From Web Exclusives

When the American Catholic poet Dunstan Thompson died in 1975, his death went virtually unnoticed. One of the rising literary stars of the 1940’s, his poetry had been practically forgotten, except among a few scholars and devoted readers. Today, Thompson still remains largely unknown, but thanks . . . . Continue Reading »

David Bowie's Search for God

From Web Exclusives

One doesn’t often find people of faith, especially conservatives, rallying around an entertainer who became famous for dressing up as an androgynous rock-star named Ziggy Stardust, singing, “Rebel, Rebel,” and pushing musical expression to its outer limits. And yet, when David Bowie died last . . . . Continue Reading »

The Meaning of Christian Mercy

From Web Exclusives

When Pope Francis announced his Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, now underway, he accompanied it with a beautiful papal bull, Misericordiae Vultus, which disappeared almost as soon as it was issued.Fortunately, in his new book, The Name of God is Mercy, co-authored with Andrea Tornielli, Francis . . . . Continue Reading »

All for Christ

From Web Exclusives

By the time of her death this past summer, Elisabeth Elliot—wife, mother, missionary and writer— had become one of the leading Evangelicals of her time.Born Elisabeth Howard in Belgium in 1926, she was the daughter of missionaries, and one of six children. Her family eventually moved back to . . . . Continue Reading »

Mercy in a World Gone Mad

From Web Exclusives

The day after the brutal terrorist attacks in France by ISIS, French President Hollande gave his country’s immediate response:My dear compatriots. What happened last night in Paris, and in Saint Denis by the Stade de France, is an act of war. . . because it was attacked cowardly, shamelessly, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Road to Nostra Aetate

From Web Exclusives

Of all the documents of Vatican II, few have been more discussed and written about than Nostra Aetate. The official text, the shortest of the council’s documents, is only five paragraphs long, containing forty-one sentences. The fourth paragraph, on the Church’s relationship with the Jewish . . . . Continue Reading »

A Family of Saints

From Web Exclusives

If there was one serene moment amidst all the ecclesiastical discord at the recent Synod in Rome, it was when Pope Francis canonized Therese of Lisieux’s parents, commending them to the faithful:The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin practiced Christian service in the family, . . . . Continue Reading »

“What About You?”

From Web Exclusives

Of all the speeches Pope Francis recently delivered in America, among the most inspiring was one highlighting the life of Katharine Drexel, delivered to an overflowing crowd in her own Philadelphia: Most of you know the story of Saint Katharine Drexel, one of the great saints raised up by the local . . . . Continue Reading »