Church History

Ask Catholics about the crisis in the Church today and you’ll often get one of two responses: The end is upon us! or Everything’s fine—the Holy Spirit is in charge! Neither of those attitudes makes sense from the perspective of history,...

The theory goes like this: Just a few centuries after Christ’s death, around the time the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, the true Faith suffered a catastrophic falling-away. The simple truths of the gospel became so obscured by worldliness...

The Shroud of Turin is celebrated as one of the holiest and most important relics of Christianity, with millions of pilgrims traveling to see the precious cloth in Italy on the rare occasions it has been displayed. Yet despite its enormous global...

The Galileo Affair is the go-to event cited by enemies of the Catholic Church as hard evidence that she is opposed to scientific learning. The facts of the story do not support this narrative. Indeed, the Church throughout history has led the way in...

We’ve grown way too comfortable with the story of Jesus. Nice man, right? Taught us to love one another. Said not to judge people. Tragically killed by his enemies. We celebrate his birthday every year. It’s time to put away this small, safe...

There may be no event in Church History so fraught with controversy as the Inquisition. The topic is often used to discredit the Catholic Church, too frequently by people whose own knowledge of the relevant circumstances and events is thin...

The Founding of the American Republic is on trial. Critics say it was a poison pill with a time-release formula; we are its victims. Its principles are responsible for the country's moral and social disintegration because they were based on the...

It is no longer permissible to have an honest conversation about Islam. Those who warn about Islam’s threat to our way of life are dismissed as racists and xenophobes by social elites and even by many in the Catholic hierarchy. For centuries,...

The papacy is no stranger to controversy. In many ways it’s Catholicism’s defining doctrine—but also its most divisive. From medieval pontiffs who acted like princes to a modern pope whose every casual statement sets off a social-media...

Christ wants you to join in His saving work.He has called you to be a holy handmaid, a royal princess, a daughter of the Most High: a fighter alongside your King on the spiritual battlefield for souls.To equip you for this mission, author Julie Onderko...

Common Sense About the Common Good Pope Leo XIII wrote of the “harvest of misery” that socialism brings. Pius XI said that it’s impossible to be a good Catholic and a good socialist. John Paul II spent his papacy combating...

About a century after Jesus died, a battle began for the Old Testament. Large numbers of faithful Christians fought about its contents and even about its right to be called a Christian book! On one side, many Jewish converts charged Paul and most of...