George Weigel | Rhode Island Catholic

In the Book of Genesis, the patriarch Abraham receives a double promise from God the Father. The elderly, childless Abraham and his barren wife Sarah are guaranteed offspring through the birth of a … more

3/13/25

A priest places ashes on the forehead of a Palestinian woman during Ash Wednesday Mass in the Church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem, West Bank, March 5, 2025. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent and the start of the six weeks of prayer and penitence before Easter.

Lent and the Purification of Memory

On December 20, 2002, I was at lunch in the papal apartment when the wide-ranging conversation John Paul II always encouraged took an unexpected turn, with the pope asking me how President Ronald … more

3/13/25

Cathedrals and us

The Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the nation’s capital is a magnificent Neo-Gothic structure, based on 14th-century English models, that calls itself “Washington National … more

2/27/25

Manners, methods, and greatness

Browsing “ Footprints in Time ,” the memoirs of Winston Churchill’s longtime private secretary, John Colville, I found a tale from eighty years ago with a lesson for American public … more

2/20/25

Catholics, Hippocrates, and reforming American medicine

I am the odd man out in a family of medical folk. My maternal grandfather was a physician; his daughter, my mother, was a medical technologist; my mother-in-law, a nurse. My brother is a physician; … more

2/6/25

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence in the film “Conclave,” which opened in theaters Oct. 25, 2024, in the U.S.

From Doubting Thomas to Doubting Peter?

Ralph Fiennes is a remarkable actor. And if he wins an Academy Award for his brilliant performance in Conclave, this section of his masterfully delivered homily to the College of Cardinals, of which … more

1/23/25

Stacked decks, ‘Conversation in the Spirit,’ and the Catholic future

Various cultures — English, Turkish, Chinese — claim to have invented the maxim, “The fish rots from the head down” (a favorite in Your Nation’s Capital during the … more

1/16/25

Jubilee 2025: New Year’s resolutions and resources

Jubilee 2025 began on Christmas Eve 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s in Rome, and will conclude on January 6, 2026, when that door of the Vatican basilica is closed. The … more

1/9/25

“Luce,” mascot of dumbed-down Catholicism

During his years as professor of fundamental theology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, Salvatore “Rino” Fisichella was often cited by American seminarians as their … more

12/12/24

A great Christian witness, too little known in the West

The Venerable Andrei Sheptytsky, who died eighty years ago on November 1, 1944, was one of 20th century Catholicism’s outstanding figures, whose remarkable life and heroic ministry as leader of … more

12/5/24

The continuing scandal of the Vatican’s China policy

In the annals of historical boorishness, it would be hard to find something more egregious than the Holy See’s timing as it renewed its 2018 agreement with the People’s Republic of China, … more

11/21/24

Taking the Risk of Freedom

Thirty-five years ago, the son of a great historian helped make history when he asked the question that triggered the demolition of the most grotesquely expressive artifact of the Cold War. My friend … more

11/14/24

Meditation on a Roman pizza

ROME — Pizza in the Eternal City tends to exemplify a proposition I have long defended: what crossed the Atlantic going west was usually improved in the process. I like Roman pizza, as I like … more

10/31/24

St. John Paul II smiles during a 1980 visit to Paris in this file photo.

Crossing the ‘Threshold of Hope’ after thirty years

On October 20, 1994, something unprecedented in the modern history of the papacy took place: the reigning pope published a book that was not an act of the papal magisterium but rather a personal … more

10/24/24

Indifference is irresponsible

I can understand why many Americans seem dispirited about world affairs. Things are indeed a mess. What I cannot understand, however, is the electorate’s seeming indifference to the global … more

10/17/24

Keeping (or Making) Catholic Education Great

According to the Vatican yearbook, the “Annuario Pontificio,” there are north of 5,000 Catholic bishops in the world today. They share certain characteristics and attributes. But I doubt … more

10/10/24

Choking on Rights Talk

In her prescient book, “Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse,” Mary Ann Glendon of the Harvard Law School warned her fellow Americans in 1993 that our public life was … more

9/26/24

Canceled in China

“Hallow,” the prayer app that debuted in 2018, is one of the most popular spiritual tools on the planet, having been downloaded some 14 million times in over 150 countries, according to … more

9/19/24

‘Witness to Hope,’ Twenty-Five Years Later

My hands were shaky a quarter-century ago as I carried the heavy box from the front door of our house into my study. Inside were my author copies of “Witness to Hope”, the first volume of … more

9/12/24

Repurposing the Catholic Campaign for Human Development

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), rhetorically oversold as the “U.S. Church’s anti-poverty program” – Do no other such programs exist? – was an … more

8/22/24