Matthew Schmitz

A youth meeting at the Vatican fails to represent either the Catholic faith or the young people who profess it.  Continue Reading »

As the Berlin Wall fell, Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history—“the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” Richard John Neuhaus wasn’t so sure. In a 1996 symposium on judicial overreach, he questioned the . . . . Continue Reading »

We are facing a war on the weak, and no magazine battles it in its various guises as consistently as does First Things. Continue Reading »

Cardinal Blase Cupich pretends to be a friend to people who need a father.  Continue Reading »

Pets are replacing America’s children. According to the marketing research firm Mintel, two-thirds of American pet owners treat their pets as “part of the family.” One-third say that their pets understand their feelings better than most humans. Half care as much about the . . . . Continue Reading »

An interview with Edwin Mary Akaedu.  Continue Reading »

The Paris Statement decries the faux Christendom of democracy, but we will need more than local patriotism and recollection of Christian roots to combat it.  Continue Reading »

Evelyn Waugh understood that Christianity is not a matter of blood, or of race, or of victory in this world.  Continue Reading »

Catholics distinguish between violations of manners and of the moral law; Fr. James Martin, in ways trivial and grave, does not. Continue Reading »

Conversion—not ecclesial nativism—is the American Catholic tradition. Continue Reading »