History of Christian Thoughts

  It’s hard to imagine a decent politics that doesn’t depend on the notion of the dignity of the human person. It’s unfortunately also hard to specify how to anchor that notion in something beyond our earnest moral intuitions. As the bioethicist Adam Schulman poses the question:... Read more

There is nothing so offensive as the Judeo-Christian vision of the family. That was as true in antiquity as it is now. We like to think that playing with different family forms is a brave new idea for a brave new world. But the idea that the family could be something other than one man, one... Read more

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus gives a number of practical principles for those who would proclaim the Kingdom. Let’s look at each of them in turn. I. Serious – The text says, At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place... Read more

On July 1, the Vatican issued a document about the “absolute inviolability” of the seal of confession, which mandates priests to keep everything about sacramental confession a complete secret, up to the point of shedding their blood before revealing anything. Aleteia is offering you short... Read more

An immigrant parish, burnt down, with only the crucifix remaining. A parish rebuilt, transformed and a key part in giving back to the community. In a sense, one parish’s story of struggle, pressure and rebirth is metaphor for the American Catholic experience. St. Mary of the Immaculate... Read more

Every Fourth of July, the United States commemorates its Founders’ dedication to our unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — rights endowed by our Creator. One person who greatly respected what those Founders did was a Polish pope, St. John Paul II. John Paul... Read more

Pope Francis has formally approved the canonizations of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman and four other blessed, and decreed that these canonizations will take place in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Oct. 13. The Holy Father made the announcement at a July 1 ordinary public consistory... Read more

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s remains have been transferred from the Archdiocese of New York to Peoria, Illinois, after three years of litigation, clearing the way for the former archbishop’s sainthood cause to go forward. Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria announced today that Sheen’s... Read more

Clerical sexual abuse of minors; sexual harassment and assault in the film industry; Catholic traditionalist and modernizing impulses; homosexuality and the definition of marriage; populism vs. elitism; strict anti-abortion laws: Somehow the life of Franco Zeffirelli, who died June 15 at age 96,... Read more

Last week, the Supreme Court decided the much-awaited Bladensburg Cross case, American Legion v. American Humanist Association. The case presented a constitutional challenge to a war memorial on public property in Bladensburg, Maryland—a 32-foot-high Latin cross erected 90 years ago to... Read more