Editorial | Rhode Island Catholic

School Choice One Step Closer to being possible in RI

Congress recently passed the “Big Beautiful Bill” at the beginning of July. While that bill contains a lot of material worthy of debate, one provision in the bill is a good sign for … more

7/10/25

Catholic Charities is now protected in doing its work

Should a local or state government tax Catholic Charities? That was the question brought to the U.S. Supreme Court recently. In “Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review … more

7/10/25

Pope Leo XIV greets people as he marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with a meeting in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican June 26, 2025.

How many divisions does the Pope have?

In 1944, Joseph Stalin famously impugned papal military power in a quip to Winston Churchill, when he inquired of the British Prime Minister: “The Pope? How many divisions does he have?” … more

6/26/25

The Sacred Heart teaches us about love

During the month of June, the Church honors the Sacred Heart of Jesus with proper solemnity. Following the seventeenth century apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, France, … more

6/26/25

‘This is my Body’

It has been rightly noted that the same four words that Jesus Christ used at the Last Supper to change ordinary bread and wine into the Holy Eucharist (“This is my body”) are used by some … more

6/19/25

Asking for human life and dignity protections in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’

By Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski OSV News The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed in the House of Representatives and is now in the Senate. The senators have a chance to reshape or alter … more

By Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, OSV News | 6/12/25

Remembering Alasdair MacIntyre

If you were to ask Catholics of a certain generation to explain why a particular act (take adultery as just one representative example) should be classified as a sin, you would likely hear that it … more

By Father Ryan Connors | 5/29/25

On Ascension, absence and true love

By Laura Kelly Fanucci OSV News One year ago, on the feast of the Ascension, we attended Mass in a hotel basement. One of our older kids was in a weekend tournament, and a priest from one of the … more

By Laura Kelly Fanucci, OSV News | 5/21/25

Carlo Acutis, who was born in 1991 in London and died in 2006 in Monza, Italy.

Pedestal deserved: Carlo Acutis’ digital authenticity

For someone for whom the idea of a celebrity culture putting people on an undeserved pedestal was distasteful, it’s a bit ironic that he’s been put on a pedestal himself. In the case of … more

By Sister Hosea Rupprecht, OSV News | 5/8/25

Where Do You Draw The ‘Mercy Line’?

Where do you draw the line—the “mercy line?” The mercy line marks the point beyond which, in your view, mercy should NOT be offered to a person: If you do such-and-such a … more

4/24/25

We must exercise Divine Mercy and with Jesus’ love we can counter the enemy within

By Father John Maria Devaney, O.P. On April 30, 2000, during the last ordinary jubilee year the Church celebrated, Pope St. John Paul II canonized a young Polish religious sister named Sister … more

Father John Maria Devaney, O.P. | 4/17/25

The Pope Shows us the Power of the Anointing of the Sick

For weeks the faithful waited to hear news of Pope Francis’s well-being. Prayers, novenas, rosaries and Masses were all offered for his health. Several times it seemed like he would not … more

4/10/25

We Don’t Fast Anymore as Catholics

Fasting is a form of penance that imposes limits on our consumption of food and drink. For centuries, it has been an integral part of Catholic life throughout the year to detach ourselves from … more

4/10/25

Loving sinners, admonishing sin

Matthew, Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, the one caught in adultery, the sinful woman at the house of Simon the Pharisee, tax collectors, sinners, and Samaritans: the list of … more

By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, OSV News | 4/3/25

The Powerful Example of King Baudouin

In all likelihood, you’ve never heard of him. His name was Baudouin, and he ruled the people of Belgium as their king for 42 years—from 1951-1993—except for 36 hours in April of … more

3/27/25

A Eucharistic Word: Remembrance

Remembrance is a central part of our Catholic faith. For the nine years I attended Catholic grade school, Friday afternoons of Lent were spent in church. The entire school community gathered to pray … more

By Michael R. Heinlein, OSV News | 3/20/25

Take up your cross

For some years now, it has been fashionable for Catholics to declare that we’re not giving up anything for Lent but instead are doing something positive. This false dichotomy makes sense within … more

By Scott P. Richert, OSV News | 3/13/25

Don’t Believe Dictators

On September 30, 1938, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany signed the “Munich Agreement,” which annexed to Germany the Sudetenland, territory belonging to then-Czechoslovakia. … more

3/6/25

What will the Ashes I Wear This Year be a Sign of?

In a column he wrote for the Rhode Island Catholic a couple of years ago, our Bishop at the time, Thomas J. Tobin, offered a reflection on the subject of what we wear, and how what we wear often … more

2/27/25

A Eucharistic Word: Embodied

At a recent Sunday Mass, our curious kindergartener leaned over to me and asked why we trace a small cross on our forehead, lips and heart as the Gospel is about to be … more

By Michael R. Heinlein, OSV News | 2/20/25