To commemorate the 250th anniversary of our nation, Netflix is streaming a five-part docuseries that delves into the history of America’s founding. Utilizing a conventional historical documentary style, the presentation includes commentary from historians and academics, accompanied by voice-over reenactments of events surrounding and following the American Revolution right up to the drafting and…

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Few sins are as terrifying as the murder of a child. On this all must agree. Yet the younger the child is, the more fraught the discussion tends to become. In the age of sex positivity, it has become necessary to justify its consequences in terms that absolve. The precious soul of the unborn is often treated as a diabolical inversion of its true nature—a mere collection of cells, a lifeless body…

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My good friend Kevin Wells recently implored a priest of the SSPX to consider leaving the order not so much because the bishops of the SSPX have been declared to be in schism and thus excommunicated but because Kevin believes the work of the priests of the SSPX to be a less effective form of caring for souls than serving those who attend the Novus Ordo. Kevin seems to think the salvation of souls…

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Flannery O’Connor, who had an admirable propensity for being honest, made the remark that “the truth will make you odd.” She would not be surprised, if she were around today, to learn that a dubious student-led protest was sufficient for authorities to remove her name from one of the residence halls at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. More than 80 scholars and authors signed a letter…

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I have often told my students that there used to be three ways for an army to get inside a walled city. They could scale the walls, batter the gates in, or dig a tunnel underneath and set off an explosive to blow up the defenses—literally what it means to undermine. I should have added a fourth way: get somebody inside to open the gates for you, somebody to whose advantage it will be to trade…

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My eldest son plays in our town’s Little League. He’s no prodigy on the short list for a future MLB contract, but he’s a good player—he understands the game, plays hard, and keeps his cool under pressure. Last summer, he was invited to try out for the local travel team. It wasn’t terribly expensive, so I asked the coach about time commitments. The coach explained that in the spring and fall we…

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There is a surprising connection between decadence, conversion, and traditional Catholicism which some people might find a little shocking or, even, a cause for scandal. Others, however, understanding the relationship between decadence and conversion, will simply rejoice that so many leading figures of the Decadent movement became Catholics. Before looking a little closer at the place of the…

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I recently opened a piece of mail and unfolded a masterpiece of calligraphy: a letter written on a single sheet of soft beige Southworth 25% cotton stationery. A priest of the Society of St. Pius X wrote it, just days before the Society’s July 1 episcopal consecrations. His words read like something pulled from a time capsule—sublime words drawn seemingly from the inmost cords of his heart.

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When news broke of the death of the extremely conservative-minded English politician Ann Widdecombe on July 10, reaction from many of those on the left of British politics was immediate. She was going straight to Hell—because she was a Catholic. “Hell has gained another demon,” gloried one social media user. In Ann’s case, such reactions were not limited to random private individuals.

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In recent years, there has been a renewed public fascination with the demonic, spiritual warfare, and exorcisms. Interviews with well-known exorcists and demonologists, including Fr. Chad Ripperger, Fr. Vincent Lampert, Fr. Carlos Martins, and Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, have appeared across both major and smaller platforms, from Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Shawn Ryan to Capturing Christianity…

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