Elizabeth Bruenig’s New York Times op-ed “A Saint’s Sins” was a lengthy indictment of the character and actions of Saint Junipero Serra. It is tempting to refer to it as a masterpiece of character assassination, except that it is not masterful. It recycles modernist and old anti-Catholic attacks that ignore the historical … Read more
In the early morning hours of July 23rd of this year, city officials in San Buenaventura (commonly referred to as Ventura), California hired an anti-Catholic crane company to remove a statue of Saint Junipero Serra that had stood in the city for just shy of a century. This move came after a … Read more
If there is one takeaway from the gaudy liberal-fest at the virtual Democratic National Convention in mid-August, it would be that the liberals have a God problem. It’s not a problem with His existence. The convention was hardly a collection of the unchurched, atheists and agnostics intent upon eradicating religion from America. … Read more
The history of America calls to mind many events. People think of the English colonization, the War for Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, and the World Wars. Unfortunately, a significant part of America’s earlier past remains hidden and forgotten. The modern presentation of American history is often limited to the … Read more
When thinking of persecution of the Church, most think about brutal dictators that kill priests and faithful while closing and destroying churches. They tend to believe such situations happen only in countries like Communist China but not here in America. However, there are other ways to carry out persecutions. One way is … Read more
In 1782, Saint Junípero Serra founded his final mission—San Buenaventura—in what is now the city of Ventura, California. In 1833, the Mexican government confiscated the land and sold it to ranchers. By 1936, over 100 years after the Mexican secularization act and almost a century after becoming part of the United States, … Read more
An ominous silence surrounds the attacks on Catholic churches nationwide. The violence takes the form of arson, vandalism and statue smashing. Catholics see satanic symbols, obscenities and graffiti sprayed upon statues and church buildings. The silence takes the form of complicity with the attackers on one hand or a failure to react … Read more
There is something almost biblical about the present chaos and confusion. It defies a secular explanation or narrative by its immense scope. Not so long ago, we were one people, and yet now we are fragmented into a thousand pieces. It is hard to grasp. This shattering has been a long time … Read more
Very few know that Saint Louis IX, King of France, had a sister who was beatified by the Church. Her feast day is celebrated on February 21. Her biographical information is taken from Réné François Rohrbacher’s Universal History of the Catholic Church. The daughter of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, Isabel … Read more
In a few weeks, I could go to jail for what I’m about to write. The Italian Parliament is presently discussing the Zan Bill (introduced by Member of Parliament (MP) Alessandro Zan), also known as the Zan-Scalfarotto Bill (from MP Ivan Scalfarotto, author of the first draft). Both are members of the … Read more