Catholic Church

By Deacon Robert V. Thomann, Crisis Magazine - The fact that marriages in the Catholic Church have been declining is hardly news. The percent of marriages relative to the Catholic population in the U.S. have declined almost 80 percent from 1970 to the pre-pandemic year of 2018. This is not a small-scale marginal decline but a crisis of catastrophic scale, the consequences of which have been analyzed, reported on, and deplored for at least a decade or more. So, marriage decline is not news.

By Fr. Paul John Kalchik, Church Militant - The new year is underway, and the skyrocketing cost of just about everything leaves many fretting by day or kept awake at night struggling with doubts and worries... What can we do to allay such fearful questions like "What will be the next shoe to drop? My furnace is ancient; will it last another winter? My savings are now nonexistent; what will happen if I get sick and can't work?"... When there's a night when these sorts of questions assail me, I find it's best just to get out of bed and say a Rosary.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture - He didn’t want to be the Pope. He didn’t even want to be the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office. Father Joseph Ratzinger was happy to be a theologian: reading and thinking and praying and writing about the beauty of the faith, guiding others to do the same... Twice (at least) Cardinal Ratzinger asked Pope John Paul II to release him from his work as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, so that he could resume his beloved work as a scholar and teacher.

By Al Perrotta, The Stream - Yet, Stream contributor Fr. Dwight Longenecker has done something rather wonderful. He actually studied the scriptures, dug deep into the historical background, and solved the mystery of the Magi. Yes, they were real and he tells us who they are in a phenomenal book called Mystery of the Magi: The Quest to Identify the Three Wise Men... We were able to grab Fr. Longenecker during this busy holiday season to ask him about the Magi. The interview has been slightly edited for clarity.