Claude Newman was a twenty-year-old African-American who, in 1943, awaited execution in a prison in Mississippi. His crime was that of ambushing and shooting a man named Sid Cook, his beloved grandmother’s abusive second husband. One day, noticing a medal hanging around the neck of a fellow prisoner, Claude asked the young … Read more
Alphonse Ratisbonne was a young Jew from a family of well-established bankers in Strasbourg, France. He also was socially prominent due to his wealth and blood-ties to the Rothschild. In 1827, Alphonse’s older brother, Thèodore, converted to Catholicism and entered the priesthood, thus breaking with his family whose hopes now lay in … Read more
One cannot understand how Pope Francis surrounds himself with revolutionary leaders, assumes their ideas are good, and gives them a virtually unconditional support without first hearing renowned specialists who contend—with concrete data to back them up—that private property, free enterprise and the principle of subsidiarity have been a source of social progress … Read more
As I traveled up the interstate toward Washington, D.C., my colleague suddenly realized that he had left some items behind in the hotel room where we had stayed. It was too late to return to the place, but he really wanted the items back. “Just ask!” was the motto on the hotel … Read more
Frankfurt am Main, Germany — one of the most important aspects in the pontificate of Pope Francis is the Pastoral Policy on Marriage and the Family. In order to analyze and discuss the requirements of our time, he called a “small” meeting of bishops, held in October 2014. That Synod was supposed … Read more
It is not uncommon for people, beset by problems that appear to have no human solution, to beseech God for help. Those who do so often perceive His loving hand providing for their needs. This is where the concept of Divine Providence comes from. This is but one example of the contrast … Read more
During His life in this world, Our Lord exercised aspects of all professions fit for man—from the highest to the lowest. To even begin to appreciate the perfection of His Person, we would have to imagine the archetype of every licit profession known to man. Consider Christ as king. In biblical days, … Read more
“If you don’t give up your repossession efforts, blood will flow.” That was the threat farmer Maria Angela Simões Semeghini received last February as she went to court to recover her farmlands invaded in the city of Ariquemes, State of Rondônia, in the Amazon region of Brazil. Mrs. Semeghini was shocked when … Read more
We must not worry about appearances when it comes to what people may think of us when doing our duty. The great Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesian Congregation, disclosed to a small group of friends an important supernatural vision he had. A priest in attendance took note of his words, … Read more
“It seems clear today that the purpose of the Church is not to save in the sense of ‘guaranteeing heaven.’ The work of salvation is a reality which occurs in history…. the Church is to be ‘reconverted’ to the service of the workers in the class struggle.” These statements are drawn from the … Read more