The Catholic Thing Authors

Christopher Akers is a writer living in Scotland and is a graduate of Edinburgh University. He is currently a graduate student in Literature and Arts at Oxford University, and his work has appeared in National Review and Reaction.

Charlotte Allen holds a doctorate in medieval studies from the Catholic University of America and is the author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus. She is a columnist for First Things and writes regularly for the Weekly Standard, Acculturated, and the Wall Street Journal.

Christopher R. Altieri is a journalist, writer and editor based in Rome, Italy. He spent more than a dozen years on the news desk at Vatican Radio. He holds the PhD from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and is the author of The Soul of a Nation: America as a Tradition of Inquiry and Nationhood.

Alan L. Anderson worked at the parish and diocesan level in catechetics in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria for over twenty years. He writes on culture and the Faith from Roanoke, IL.

Matthew Anderson, is the Headmaster of the Chesterton Academy of St. George, a new classical high school in the Catholic tradition opening in Jackson MI in fall 2022. He holds an MA in Systematic Theology from the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology. He writes on faith and culture from Jackson, MI where he resides with his wife, Elizabeth, and their five children.

Mary Jo Anderson is a Catholic journalist and public speaker. She has been a frequent guest on “Abundant Life” on EWTN TV, and her “Global Watch” program is heard on EWTN radio affiliates nationwide. This is her first column for The Catholic Thing.

Michael Apichella, PhD, is professor emeritus (English) with the University of Maryland, University College, Europe. He has written many books and articles, and is a great, great, great nephew of Leo XIII.

Hadley Arkes is the Ney Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and the Founder/Director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights & the American Founding. He is the author of Constitutional Illusions & Anchoring Truths: The Touchstone of the Natural Law. Volume II of his audio lectures from The Modern Scholar, First Principles and Natural Law is available for download. His new book is Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.

Filipe d'Avillez is a religious affairs reporter with Renascença, a Catholic media group. He has a degree in international relations and a masters in history and theology of religion and currently lives in Lisbon with his wife and six children. Since 2012 he has worked with The Catholic Thing translating articles into Portuguese. He blogs at Actualidade Religiosa.

Gil Bailie, is the president of the Cornerstone Forum and author of God’s Gamble: The Gravitational Power of Crucified Love.

Pangur Bán is a pseudonym, from a 9th century poem by an Irish monk living in old Swabia. The poem can be read here, or here, and heard in English and Gaelic here.

Dennis Bartlett, who holds an Ed.D from the University of San Francisco, currently is the executive director of the American Bail Coalition. He was part of the Saint Ignatius Institute administrative staff for almost a decade, helped found Ignatius Press, and served in the Department of Justice as liaison with INTERPOL.

Michael Baruzzini is a freelance science writer and editor who writes for Catholic and science publications, including Crisis, First Things, Touchstone, Sky & Telescope, The American Spectator, and elsewhere. He is also the creator of CatholicScience.com, which offers online science curriculum resources for Catholic students.

Msgr. Robert J. Batule, a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, is the Pastor of Saint Margaret Parish in Selden, New York. He served a five-year term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Social Science Review, and is a long-time contributor of articles, essays, and book reviews to various Catholic publications.

Rick Becker is a husband, father of seven, nursing instructor, and religious educator. He lives with his family in South Bend, Indiana.

Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Baylor University, and 2016-17 Visiting Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Among his many books is Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (1870 – 1953), an Anglo-French writer and historian, was one of the most prolific English writers during his life. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, sailor, satirist, soldier, and political activist. His Catholicism had a strong impact on his work.

Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, was elected to the papacy on April 19, 2005, the 265th successor to St. Peter. Since his resignation became effective on February 28, 2013, he has been Pope Emeritus. He died on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett serves as Senior Fellow and Director of the North American Action Team of the Religious Freedom Institute. He is a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic deacon of the Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada. He previously served in the Canadian foreign service as Canada's first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and Head of the Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016. He holds a B.A. Hons. in History (Dalhousie), an M.A. in History (McGill), and a Ph.D. in Politics (Edinburgh).

John Betjeman (1906-1984) was Poet Laureate of England from 1972 until his death.

Dawn Beutner, is the author of Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ Every Day of the Year (Ignatius Press 2020) and writes at dawnbeutner.com. She has been a parish Respect Life leader in three states for many years.

Kevin Bezner is an instructor in English at Belmont Abbey College, outside Charlotte, NC. His article on spiritual desolation appears in the current issue of Lay Witness.

Jordan Bissel, holds an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of South Carolina. A former Benedictine novice, he currently works as an academic advisor at Indiana University.

Scott J. Bloch is an attorney who lives in Washington, DC where he formerly acted as United States Special Counsel. He is co-editor of The The Essential Belloc. He sits on the Board of Trustees of Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts. His new novel, Mount Wonder is a coming-of-middle-ages story based on the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas taught by John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Frank Nelick.

Christopher O. Blum is Professor of History & Philosophy at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado, where he also serves as Academic Dean. Bossuet's Meditations on Lent is his fifth volume of translations from the French.

Alessandra Bocchi is an Italian freelance journalist and writer who focuses on politics, religion, and culture in Europe, the Arab world, and China. She studied political theory at University College in London and international relations at King's College.

David G. Bonagura Jr. an adjunct professor at St. Joseph’s Seminary and is the 2023-2024 Cardinal Newman Society Fellow for Eucharistic Education. He is the author of Steadfast in Faith: Catholicism and the Challenges of Secularism and Staying with the Catholic Church, and the translator of Jerome’s Tears: Letters to Friends in Mourning.

Eleanor Bourg Donlon is assistant editor of Dappled Things and the Saint Austin Review (StAR). Read more about and from her at eleanorbourgdonlon.com.

Dr. James O. Breen received his doctor of medicine from Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia and completed internship and residency in Family Medicine at Brown University. He is in clinical practice and medical education and lives with his wife and children in Fort Myers, Florida.

Peter Brown is completing a doctorate in Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America.

E. Christian Brugger is a moral theologian living in Front Royal, Virginia. He is the author of The Indissolubility of Marriage and the Council of Trent among various other works.

James C. Capretta is a resident fellow and holds the Milton Friedman Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies health care, entitlement, and US budget policy, as well as global trends in aging, health, and retirement programs.

David Carlin is a retired professor of sociology and philosophy at the Community College of Rhode Island, and the author of The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America, Three Sexual Revolutions: Catholic, Protestant, Atheist, and most recently Atheistic Humanism, the Democratic Party, and the Catholic Church.

The late John W. (Jack) Carlson was professor of philosophy at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. During his career, all at Jesuit-sponsored institutions, he has served as a department chair, arts and sciences dean, and academic vice president.

William Carroll is Thomas Aquinas Fellow in Theology and Science, Blackfriars, University of Oxford.

Riccardo Cascioli is the editor-in-chief of La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana and president of the European Center for the Study of Population, Environment, and Development (CESPAS).

Carlos Caso-Rosendi is an Argentine-American writer. A convert, he was received in the Catholic Church in 2001. He is the founder of the Spanish website Primera Luz and his own blog in English, Carlos Caso-Rosendi. His books include Guadalupe: A River of Light, Ark of Grace – Our Blessed Mother in Holy Scripture, and A Vademecum of Catholic Apologetics. He lives in Buenos Aires.

Casey Chalk is the author of The Obscurity of Scripture and The Persecuted. He is a contributor for Crisis Magazine, The American Conservative, and New Oxford Review. He has degrees in history and teaching from the University of Virginia and a master's in theology from Christendom College.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 – 1936) was an English critic and author of verse, essays, novels, and short stories. Known as the master of paradox, Chesterton was also a literary and social critic, and – after his conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism – a subtle theologian. Among his most well-known books are Orthodoxy (1908) and The Everlasting Man (1925).

Grazie Christie, M.D. is a Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association, and the hostess of Conversations With Consequences, an EWTN radio show. She lives with her husband and five children in Miami, Florida, where she practices radiology.

Fr. Richard Cipolla is a Catholic priest, retired pastor of St. Mary’s Church, in Norwalk, CT. He holds a D. Phil from Oxford University and was for many years Chair of the Classics Department at the Brunswick School.

John Emmet Clarke is editor-in-chief of Cluny Media, a publishing house devoted to recovering neglected texts in the Catholic and Western traditions. Learn more about Cluny and its catalog here.

H.W. Crocker III is a popular historian and novelist. His classic history of the Catholic Church, Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church - A 2,000 Year History, updated and expanded, has just been reissued in hardcover, and his classic history of America’s military, Don’t Tread on Me, updated and expanded, has been reissued in paperback.

Dr. John F. Crosby is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the MA Philosophy Program at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Professor Crosby is known internationally for his work on John Henry Newman, Max Scheler, Karol Wojtyła, and Dietrich von Hildebrand.

Marian Crowe earned her PhD in English at the University of Notre Dame. She taught at Notre Dame and at St. Mary’s College but is now retired. She is the author of Aiming at Heaven, Getting the Earth: The English Catholic Novel Today. She lives with her husband Michael in South Bend, Indiana.

Michael Dauphinais, Ph.D., serves as Associate Professor and Chair of Theology at Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Florida.

Michael Warren Davis is Associate Editor of the Catholic Herald.

Father John C. De Celles is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington. He is pastor of St. Raymond of Peñafort parish in Springfield, Virginia, and holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology.

Roberto de Mattei, a distinguished Italian historian, is the author of Saint Pius V: The Legendary Pope Who Excommunicated Queen Elizabeth, Standardized the Mass, and Defeated the Ottoman Empire (Sophia Institute, 2021).

Robert de Saint Jacques left his native Kentucky some forty years ago to accompany his newly-wedded Parisienne bride to France. He has lived and worked there since then and presently is retired with his wife in Paris.

Father Phillip W. De Vous is the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Crescent Springs, KY and an adjunct scholar of public policy at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

Donald DeMarco, PhD is a Senior Fellow of HLI America, an Initiative of Human Life International. He is Professor Emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario and adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. His recent writings may be found at HLI America's Truth and Charity Forum.

William Dempsey is chairman of Sycamore Trust, an organization of Notre Dame alumni and others attentive to the Catholic identity of the university. After graduating from Notre Dame and Yale Law School and serving as chief law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. and served as chief labor negotiator for the railroad industry and president of the Association of American Railroads.

A.A.J. DeVille, Ph.D., is an associate professor and director of humanities at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, IN. Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power.

Douglas Dewey is President of the Wethersfield Institute for Catholic Thought, in Manhattan, which was founded by the late Chauncey Stillman in 1984. He and his wife live in Westchester County, N.Y. where they preside over a slowly emptying nest of ten children.

Kevin Doak is a professor in the Catholic Studies Program and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Georgetown University.

Mr. Doerflinger is retired after working on life issues for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for 36 years. He is a Fellow with the University of Notre Dame's deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture, an Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and the author of a monthly syndicated column for Catholic News Service.

Bill Donohue is president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from New York University and is the author of several books on civil liberties, social issues, and Catholicism.

Chuck Donovan is the president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute in Washington, D.C.

Jude P. Dougherty, emeritus Dean of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, is the author, most recently, of Briefly Considered (St. Augustine’s Press, November 2015).

Jean Duchesne is a writer and emeritus professor of English at Condorcet College in Paris. He has served as personal adviser to the archbishops of Paris since 1981 and is now secretary general of the French Catholic Academy and vice-president of the French bishops’ Faith and Culture Observatory.

Mary Eberstadt is a Senior Research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute and holds the Panula Chair at the Catholic Information Center. Her most recent book is Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited, with a Foreword by Cardinal George Pell.

Eduardo J. Echeverria is Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. His publications include Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II Revised and Expanded Second Edition (Lectio Publishing, Hobe Sound, FL, 2019) and Revelation, History, and Truth: A Hermeneutics of Dogma. (2018). His new book is Are We Together? A Roman Catholic Analyzes Evangelical Protestants.

Anthony Esolen is a lecturer, translator, and writer. Among his books are Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, and Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and most recently The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord. He is Distinguished Professor at Thales College. Be sure to visit his new website, Word and Song.

Patrick Fagan, Ph.D. is a Washington policy analyst and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Social Services Policy at the Department of Health and Human Services.

David W. Fagerberg is an emeritus professor of liturgical theology at the University of Notre Dame. His field is liturgical theology, and his latest book is Liturgical Dogmatics.

Amy Fahey is a teaching fellow at Thomas More College. Pale Horse, Easy Rider is available from the Thomas More College Press, as is Father Francis Bethel’s biography, John Senior and the Restoration of Realism.

William Edmund Fahey is a Fellow at Thomas More College, where he also serves as its third president.

Yousseff Fakhouri, whose family fled Lebanon to avoid forced conversion, is active in trying to preserve the Christian heritage in the West. He currently lives in Budapest.

Fr. Cameron Faller currently serves as the associate pastor of Church of the Epiphany in San Francisco as well as an assistant vocation director.

A former Senior Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute, John Farina was the Editor-in-chief of the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality, and Sources of American Spirituality series in addition to the Crossroad Herder and Herder Spiritual Legacy series. He is currently an associate professor of religious studies at George Mason University.

Thomas Farr is president of the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington D.C. He was founding director of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom (1999-2003), and of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center (2011-18). He was an associate professor of the Practice of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service from 2007-2018.

Msgr. Hans Feichtinger is pastor of St. Albertus and of St George’s, and an adjunct professor at the theology faculty of St. Paul University, in Ottawa.

Ellen Wilson Fielding is Senior Editor of the Human Life Review and lives in Maryland.

Msgr. Charles Fink has been a priest for 47 years in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He is a former pastor and seminary spiritual director, living in retirement from administrative duties at Notre Dame Parish in New Hyde Park, NY.

Rick Fitzgibbons, M.D. is a psychiatrist in Conshohocken, PA who has treated youth and adults with gender dysphoria, and written on the topic. He is the co-author of Forgiveness Therapy: An Empirical Guide for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope .

J.D. Flynn, formerly a canon lawyer in Lincoln, Nebraska, is editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency, a division of EWTN.

David Forte is Professor Emeritus at Cleveland State University and is on the Board of Scholars at the James Wilson Institute.

T. Franche dite Laframboise is a writer, speaker, and scripture scholar with degrees from Marquette and Notre Dame. She specializes in theological anthropology and patristic exegesis and welcomes all questions and comments. Correspondence may be sent to: [email protected].

Tony Francois is a Senior Attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, where he specializes in constitutional and environmental law. He and his family reside in Sacramento, California. The views expressed are solely his own.

Joan Frawley Desmond is a Maryland-based Catholic journalist; she blogs at The Cathoholic. A graduate of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, she leads Theology of the Body study groups.

Dr. Freeh lives in Gallup, NM, where she and her husband John are cofounding Kateri College of the Liberal and Practical Arts while fulfilling their primary vocation of raising and educating their three children, Theresa, Joseph, and John Paul.

Thomas Frerking OSB is the Abbot of St. Louis Abbey in Missouri.

Daniel Gallagher is the Ralph and Jeanne Kanders Associate Professor of the Practice in Latin at Cornell University. He worked in the Latin Section of the Vatican Secretariat of State for ten years.

Fr. Dennis Garrou became a Catholic priest via the Pastoral Provision for Former Anglican Clergy through the Immaculate Conception Seminary Newark, NJ, and St. John Vianney Seminary Denver, CO. He retired from the Archdiocese of Denver in 2017 and is now serving as a National Chaplain with the Fellowship Of Catholic University Students, providing clerical supply in area parishes and on mission trips to Uganda.

Dana Gioia is one of the most prominent New Formalist poets in America and the author of many books. His website is DanaGoia.com. He has served as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poet Laureate of California, and is currently Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California.

Karen Walter Goodwin (1948-2014) was a producer with over a
 dozen Broadway shows to her credit, including "Les Miserables." She was founder of Fifth Avenue
 Entertainment and served on the Department of Business and Economics Advisory Board of Catholic University of America where she was an Adjunct Professor.

Carrie Gress has a doctorate in philosophy from The Catholic University of America. She is the editor-in-chief of Theology of Home and the author of several books, including The Marian Option, The Anti-Mary Exposed, and co-authot of Theology of Home. She is also a homeschooling mother of five and a homemaker. Her new book is The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us.

Father Carter Griffin is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington and the Rector of St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of Princeton University and a former line officer in the United States Navy. He is the author of Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest (Emmaus Road).

John Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is a former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. All views herein are exclusively his.

Fr. Romano Guardini (1885–1968), author and academic, was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in 20th-century. His most famous book is The Lord (Gateway Editions). He was a mentor to such prominent theologians as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger.

Servant of God Fr. Romano Guardini (1885 – 1968), author and academic, was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in the 20th-century. This essay is adapted from his most famous book, The Lord. He was a mentor to such prominent theologians as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger.

Dan Guernsey, Ed.D., is a Senior Fellow at The Cardinal Newman Society and Director of Ave Maria University’s Master of Education in Catholic Educational Leadership Program.

Gunnar Gundersen is an Affiliated Scholar of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding. His areas of research include religious freedom, property rights, and jurisprudence.

Matt Hadro is a public relations executive who lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

Eric Hageman earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Notre Dame in 2013 and his J.D. from Notre Dame in 2016. He practices law in Washington, DC.

Matthew Hanley’s new book, Determining Death by Neurological Criteria: Current Practice and Ethics, is a joint publication of the National Catholic Bioethics Center and Catholic University of America Press.

Dr. Sandra Hapenney has a master’s degree in theology from St. Mary’s University, a master’s in Public Health specializing in biostatistics and epidemiology from the University of Hawaii, and a doctorate in church-state Studies from Baylor University. She teaches theology at a Catholic high school and epidemiology at Baylor University. She may be reached via email at [email protected].

Todd Hartch teaches Latin American history at Eastern Kentucky University. He specializes in World Christianity, missions, and the religious history of Mexico.

Philip Hawley, Jr, MD is a hospice physician and former Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

Charlotte Hays is editor of In Character magazine, which is published by the John Templeton Foundation, and coauthor of several books of southern humor.

Msgr. Michael Heintz, PhD, is Dean and Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Mount St Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Anne Hendershott is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. She is the author of The Politics of Deviance (Encounter Books).

Jayd Henricks is the president of Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal. He previously served as the executive director of government relations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and holds a STL in systematic theology from the Dominican House of Studies.

Kent Hill, a co-founder of the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) and its first Executive Director, now serves as RFI’s Senior Fellow for Eurasia, Middle East, and Islam. He previously served as senior vice president for World Vision and assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

St. Augustine (354-430) was born in Thagaste (in modern-day Algeria). After leading a wild youth, he became a faithful Catholic under the influence of his mother, St. Monica, and his teacher, St. Ambrose of Milan. Two of his books, “Confessions” and “The City of God,” are considered among the greatest works of Christian apologetics.

Hippolytus of Rome (b. 170) was a third-century theologian in the Church at Rome. Hewas martyred in 235. Today’s text is derived from his Against Noetus.

Bill Hocter is a forensic psychiatrist who retired from the Navy in 2016 after thirty years of service.

John Horvat II is a scholar, researcher, educator, international speaker, and author of the book Return to Order. He serves as vice president of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property.

Pope St. John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland, was elected to the papacy on October 16, 1978. Pope Francis elevated him to sainthood on April 27, 2014.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is the author of Rekindling the Christic Imagination: Theological Meditations on the New Evangelization (Liturgical Press).

Thomas W. Jodziewicz is a professor of history at the University of Dallas. He was president of the Texas Catholic History Society (2004-2008, 2012-2014).

Kristina Johannes is a registered nurse and a certified teacher of natural family planning. She has served as a spokeswoman for the Alaska Family Coalition, which successfully worked for passage of the marriage amendment to the Alaska Constitution.

Larry Johnson worked for many years as a professional writer in the business world, as well as a film/video producer and director. He is currently a freelance writer and photographer, as well as an organic farmer, in Texas.

George Sim Johnston is the author of “Did Darwin Get It Right? Catholics and the Theory of Evolution” (Our Sunday Visitor).

Jason Scott Jones is co-author of The Race to Save Our Century.

Christopher Kaczor is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University and the co-author with Matthew Petrusek of Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life.

Howard Kainz, Emeritus Professor at Marquette University, is the author of twenty-five books on German philosophy, ethics, political philosophy, and religion, and over a hundred articles in scholarly journals, print magazines, online magazines, and op-eds. He was a recipient of an NEH fellowship for 1977-8, and Fulbright fellowships in Germany for 1980-1 and 1987-8. His website is at Marquette University.

James F. Keating is currently the Director the Humanities Program at Providence College and Associate Professor of Theology there. He is editor of the forthcoming Restoring Ancient Beauty: The Revival of Thomistic Theology.

Paul G. Kengor is an author and professor of political science at Grove City College, a private Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He is the executive director of the Institute for Faith and Freedom, a Grove City College conservative think tank/policy center. Among his books are The Devil and Karl Marx and A Pope and a President, about the relationship between John Paul II and Ronald Reagan.

John B. Kienker is managing editor of the Claremont Review of Books.

William Kilpatrick is the author of Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West, and a new book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For more on his work and writings, visit his website, The Turning Point Project

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), a Baptist minister, was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. For his non-violent efforts on behalf of civil rights, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He led the 1963 March on Washington, where his “I Have a Dream” speech marked a turning point in American history.

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD, is a moral theologian and the Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Indian Land, South Carolina. He is the host of the daily devotional, The Morning Offering with Father Kirby. Father Kirby has written several books, including Kingdom of Happiness: Living the Beatitudes in Everyday Life.

Elizabeth Kirk, is a research associate at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, where she focuses on child welfare and adoption law and policy.

Douglas Kries is a professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He is the co-author, with colleague and friend Brian Clayton, of Two Wings: Integrating Faith and Reason and author as well of The Problem of Natural Law. He is currently working on a book on Robert Bellarmine’s political thought..

Bob Kurland is an old retired physicist (BS Caltech--with honors, 1951; MA, PhD Harvard, 1953, 1956). In 1995 he became a Catholic. He writes “not so much to discourse with authority on matters known to me as to know them better by discoursing devoutly of them.” (St. Augustine, "The Trinity" 1,8).

A musician specializing in Renaissance lute, Julian Kwasniewski is also an artist, graphic designer, and writer. He has been published in numerous venues including The Catholic Herald, Catholic World Report, National Catholic Register, and Crisis Magazine. You can find some of his artwork and music on Etsy and YouTube.

Peter Laffin is a contributor at the Washington Examiner. Follow him on Twitter @petermlaffin.

Curt Lampkin is a retired physicist living in Texas.

Father Roger J. Landry, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, MA, is a papally-appointed Missionary of Mercy and ecclesiastical assistant to Aid to the Church in Need USA. He serves as Catholic Chaplain to Columbia University in New York City and to the Thomas Merton Institute for Catholic Life. His book, Plan of Life: Habits to Help You Grow Closer to God is available on Kindle.

Peter Augustine Lawler served on President Bush’s Council on Bioethics and is the author of Homeless and at Home in America, Stuck with Virtue, Aliens in America, and several other books. He is Dana Professor of Government at Berry College and the executive editor of Perspectives on Political Science. In 2007, he received the  Richard Weaver Prize in Scholarly Letters.

Pope Leo XIII (March 2, 1810 – July 20, 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, was the fourth longest serving pope after St. Peter, Pius IX, and St. John Paul II. He died at the age of 93.

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States.

Clemente Lisi is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at The King’s College in New York City. He has nearly twenty years experience as both a reporter and editor at media institutions such as the New York Post, ABC News, and the New York Daily News.

Fr. James B. Lloyd, CSP, Ph.D. is a Paulist priest living in New York. He is the author of Addressing the Unmentionable: Catholicism and Same-Sex Attraction.His collection oF essays, Reflections of a Dinosaur Priest, is now available. At the age of 101, Fr. Lloyd is the oldest living Paulist priest.

Kara Logan is a PhD student at Ave Maria University. She also serves as an Affiliate Scholar with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University, Steubenville, Ohio.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker is an Anglican convert to Catholicism. He is married with four children and lives in Greenville, South Carolina where he serves as pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church. He is an acclaimed author and blogger.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor-at-large of National Review Online and a nationally syndicated columnist. She can be e-mailed at [email protected].

Jeremy Lott is the founding editor of Real Clear Religion and Real Clear Books and is the author of William F. Buckley, part of the Christian Encounters Series published by Thomas Nelson.

M. T. Lu is assistant professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Daniel J. Mahoney holds the Augustine Chair in Distinguished Scholarship at Assumption College. He has written extensively on such great opponents of totalitarianism as Raymond Aron and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. His latest book is The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Subverts Christianity.

Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author of True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church .

Christopher Manion was baptized in Sacred Heart Church on the campus of Notre Dame, where he received his Ph.D. in Christian Political Theory and was awarded the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh Prize. In addition to working for several years on Capitol Hill, he has taught at Boston University, the University of Dallas, and Catholic University of America.

Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) was a Roman Catholic philosopher, respected both for his interpretation of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and for his own Thomist philosophy.

George J. Marlin, Chairman of the Board of Aid to the Church in Need USA, is the author of The American Catholic Voter and Sons of St. Patrick, written with Brad Miner. His most recent book is Mario Cuomo: The Myth and the Man.

Regis Martin is Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Author of a half-dozen books, including, most recently, Witness to Wonder: The World of Catholic Sacrament. He lives in Wintersville, Ohio with his wife and ten children.

Myroslav Marynovych is Vice-Rector for mission at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, and a President of the university’s Institute of Religion and Society. He was a founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, a prisoner of conscience (1977–1987), head of the Amnesty International structures in Ukraine (1991–1996), and former President of the Ukrainian Center of PEN International.

Filip Mazurczak is the assistant editor of the European Conservative. His writing has appeared in the National Catholic Register, Catholic Herald, Crisis Magazine, and many others.

Michele McAloon is a wife of 30 years, a mother, and a canon lawyer.

Margaret Harper McCarthy is a professor at the John Paul II Institute and editor of Humanum Review.

Fr. C. John McCloskey (1953-2023) was a Church historian and Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute.

Ashley E. McGuire iis a senior fellow with The Catholic Association and the author of Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female.

Amy McInerny is the newly appointed executive director of the National Committee for A Human Life Amendment, NCHLA. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the Catholic University of America. She and her husband Daniel live in Montclair, Virginia with their three children.

Daniel McInerny is a philosopher and author of fiction for both children and adults. You can find out more about him and his work at danielmcinerny.com.

Ralph McInerny (1929-2010) was a writer of philosophy, fiction, and cultural criticism, who taught at Notre Dame from 1955 until his death in 2010. He was among the founding contributors to The Catholic Thing.

Patrick McKinley Brennan is John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies and Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law. He is editor of The Vocation of the Child.

Emina Melonic immigrated to the U.S. in 1996 and became an American citizen in 2003. She received an MA in Humanities from the University of Chicago, an MA in Theology from Christ the King Seminary, and is currently completing a thesis on Bernard Lonergan and the Trinity. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in medieval philosophy at SUNY Buffalo.

Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher in the Dallas area. He holds an MA in Humanities and an MEd in Educational Leadership. He is the senior editor of The Everyman and has written essays for The Federalist, The American Thinker, and The American Conservative as well as the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.

Roland Millare, STD is Vice President of Curriculum and Program Director of Clergy Initiatives for the St. John Paul II Foundation (Houston). Dr. Millare holds a doctorate in sacred theology (STD) from the Liturgical University at the University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein, IL). Dr. Millare serves as an adjunct professor of theology for diaconal candidates for the University of St. Thomas (Houston) and the Diocese of Fort Worth. He is the author of A Living Sacrifice: Liturgy and Eschatology in Joseph Ratzinger (Emmaus Academic, 2022).

Joel J. Miller is the author of Lifted By Angels: The Presence and Power of Our Heavenly Guides and Guardians, which explores the stories of angels in the scripture and early Christian writings. Visit his website: JoelJMiller.com.

Brad Miner is the Senior Editor of The Catholic Thing and a Senior Fellow of the Faith & Reason Institute. He is a former Literary Editor of National Review. His most recent book, Sons of St. Patrick, written with George J. Marlin, is now on sale. His The Compleat Gentleman is now available in a third, revised edition from Regnery Gateway and is also available in an Audible audio edition (read by Bob Souer). Mr. Miner has served as a board member of Aid to the Church In Need USA and also on the Selective Service System draft board in Westchester County, NY.

John-Mark L. Miravalle is professor of Systematic and Moral theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Maryland. He received his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Regina Apostolorum in Rome. He is the author of four books, most recently Beauty: What It Is & Why It Matters.

Sister Renée Mirkes, OSF, Ph.D. is a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity and the director of the Center for NaProEthics, the ethics division of the Saint Paul VI Institute, Omaha, NE.

Fr. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C. chaired the history department at Notre Dame from 1993 to 1998. His most recent book is American Priest: The Ambitious Life and Conflicted Legacy of Notre Dame’s Father Ted Hesburgh.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Mitchell, S.C.D., received her doctorate in Institutional Social Communications from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where she worked as a translator for the Holy See Press Office and L’Osservatore Romano. She is the Dean of Students for Trinity Academy, a private K-12 Catholic independent school in Wisconsin, and serves as an Advisor for the St. Gianna and Pietro Molla International Center for Family and Life and is Theological Advisor for Nasarean.org, a mission advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Cardinal Gerhard L. Mueller was made Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope Benedict XVI and served from 2012 until 2017. Pope Francis named him a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in June of 2021. The Cardinal is author, most recently, of The Pope His Mission and His Task, translated from the German by Brian McNeil.

Maureen Mullarkey is a painter and a critic. A member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), her essays on art and its intersection with religion and politics have appeared in various publications. Currently, she is a senior contributor to The Federalist and keeper of a weblog titled Studio Matters. She is represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC. Follow her on Twitter, @mmletters.

The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City. His new book (with Diane Montagna), Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society, is now available.

Lorraine Murray is the author of The Abbess of Andalusia: Flannery O’Connor’s Spiritual Journey. She is a columnist with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Georgia Bulletin. She lives in Decatur, Georgia.

Ines Angeli Murzaku is Professor of Church History at Seton Hall University. Her extensive research on the history of Christianity, Catholicism, Religious Orders, and Ecumenism has been published in multiple scholarly articles and five books. She edited and translated with Raymond L. Capra and Douglas J. Milewski, The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossano, part of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. Dr. Murzaku has been featured frequently in national and international media, newspapers, radio and TV interviews, and blogs. Her latest book is Mother Teresa: Saint of the Peripheries.

Tom Nash is a contributing apologist and Speaker for Catholic Answers and a contributor for several Catholic publications. He formerly served as a Theology Advisor at EWTN and is the author of What Did Jesus Do?: The Biblical Roots of the Catholic Church and The Biblical Roots of the Mass.

Virgil Nemoianu is William J. Byron Distinguished Professor of Literature and Ordinary Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) was one of America’s leading Catholic writers and thinkers. He was the founder of First Things magazine and the author of numerous books, including The Naked Public Square and Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus on the Cross.

Jay Scott Newman is a priest of the Diocese of Charleston and pastor of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was made a cardinal by Leo XIII in 1879, beatified by Benedict XVI in 2010, and canonized by Pope Francis on October 13, 2019. He was among the most important Catholic writers of the last several centuries.

Christine Niles graduated from Oxford University and Notre Dame Law School. She is a host at Forward Boldly Radio, whose episodes can be found here.

Michael Novak (1933-2017) was George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy from the American Enterprise Institute, is an author, philosopher, and theologian. He was also a trustee and a visiting professor at Ave Maria University.

Alessandra Nucci is an Italian-American writer and freelance journalist. She won the Golden Florin Award in Florence, Italy, for her book on antagonistic feminism, La donna a una dimensione: Femminismo antagonista ed egemonia culturale.

Terence K. O’Leary is the retired President/CEO of a Boston marketing and communications company and a former board member of Massachusetts Citizens for Life.

John O’Callaghan is associate professor of philosophy and director of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame. This column is a shortened version of a presentation he made this week at the university for a conference on, “Darwin in the Twenty-First Century: Nature, Humanity, and God.”

Mary O’Callaghan holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology. She is a homemaker, a home-schooler, and a co-founder of InForming Life, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing accurate information and support to parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome and to helping them bring their babies to term. For information about InForming Life: [email protected]

Bernard of Clairvaux was born in Fontaines-les-Dijon, France in 1090. In his thirties, he took over leadership of the Cistercians. The order possessed just a handful of monasteries. By the time he died just prior to his sixty-fourth birthday, he had personally established 163 chapter houses, and from those had come another 179.

Carl E. Olson is editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. He is the author of Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"?, co-editor/contributor to Called To Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification, co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax (Ignatius), and author of the "Catholicism" and "Priest Prophet King" Study Guides for Bishop Robert Barron/Word on Fire.

Robert Orlando is a filmmaker, author, and entrepreneur. He’s the founder Nexus Media, and his latest films include The Divine Plan, and Citizen Trump. He also has a new book, The Tragedy of Patton: A Soldier's Date with Destiny, forthcoming in November. His work has been published in HuffPost, Patheos, Newsmax, and Daily Caller. As a scholar, he specializes in biography, religion, and military history.

Michael Pakaluk, an Aristotle scholar and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is a professor in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He lives in Hyattsville, MD with his wife Catherine, also a professor at the Busch School, and their eight children. His acclaimed book on the Gospel of Mark is The Memoirs of St Peter. His most recent book, Mary's Voice in the Gospel of John: A New Translation with Commentary, is now available. His new book, Be Good Bankers: The Divine Economy in the Gospel of Matthew, is forthcoming from Regnery Gateway in the spring. Prof. Pakaluk was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas by Pope Benedict XVI.

Fr. Dan Pattee, TOR, PhD is an affiliate scholar with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University where he previously taught theology for 29 years. He earned his S.T.L. from the John Paul II Institute for the Study of Marriage & Family in Rome and his doctorate in theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He currently serves as chaplain to the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart in Alhambra, CA.

Eric Patterson, Ph.D. is Executive Vice President of the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, D.C. Among his fourteen books are Latin America’s Neo-Reformation: Religion’s Influence on Contemporary Politics and Politics in a Religious World: Building a Religiously Informed U.S. Foreign Policy.

Susannah Patton worked with Michael Uhlmann when he was the President of the National Center for the Legal Interest, and when he was Special Assistant to President Reagan.

Father Val J. Peter was Executive Director from 1985 to 2005 and is now Executive Director Emeritus of Girls and Boys Town, the original Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home. He has served on the boards or committees of more than twenty national and local organizations, including the Parents Television Council, and has published eleven books and more than fifty scholarly articles. He holds doctorate degrees in canon law and theology.

Greg Pfundstein is the executive director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation. 


Fr. Mark A. Pilon (1943-2018) was a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, VA. He received a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from Santa Croce University in Rome. He was a former Chair of Systematic Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, and a retired and visiting professor at the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. He writes regularly at littlemoretracts.wordpress.com.

Father Jerry J. Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington. He is pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Great Falls, Virginia.

Mary Poplin is a professor at Claremont Graduate University and author of the books, Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me and Is RealitySecular?

Fr. Joseph Previtali is a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco; he is pursuing the Doctorate of Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) was elected on April 19, 2005. He resigned on February 28, 2013, the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years. Pope Emeritus Benedict lived in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican until his death on December 31, 2022

James Patrick Reid teaches painting and drawing at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and serves as artist in residence with the college's Center for Beauty and Culture. He also teaches an online graduate course in the history and theory of Catholic art for the Franciscan University of Steubenville. A portfolio of his work is available at his website.

Patrick Reilly is president and founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, which promotes and defends faithful Catholic education.

Robert Reilly is Director of the Westminster Institute and a former director of the Voice of America. He has taught at the National Defense University and served in the White House and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He is the author of The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist. His most recent book is Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.

Daniel Robinson was a member of the Philosophy Faculty, Oxford University.

Jonathan Rogers, is the author of The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O'Connor, as well as Saint Patrick, a biography. He teaches literature and writing at New College Franklin in Franklin, Tennessee, and is a regular contributor to the Rabbit Room (www.rabbitroom.com).

Damiano Rondelli, MD is professor of medicine and director of the Stem Cell Transplant Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the editor of Storia delle discipline mediche, a history of the medical profession.

Tracey Rowland is dean and permanent fellow of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family (Melbourne, Australia). She is the author of Culture and the Thomist Tradition after Vatican II (2003) and Benedict XVI: A Guide for the Perplexed (2010), among other works.

Robert Royal is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing and president of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C. His most recent books are Columbus and the Crisis of the West and A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century.

Ismail Royer serves as Director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute. Since converting to Islam in 1992, he has studied religious sciences with traditional Islamic scholars and has spent over a decade working at non-profit Islamic organizations.

Austin Ruse is the President of the New York and Washington, D.C.-based Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam), a research institute that focuses exclusively on international social policy. The opinions expressed here are Mr. Ruse’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of C-Fam.


Gerald J. Russello (9171-2021) was a lawyer and editor of The University Bookman.

William Saunders is Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at Americans United for Life. A graduate of the Harvard Law School, he writes frequently on a wide variety of legal and policy issues.

Fr. Paul Scalia is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, VA, where he serves as Episcopal Vicar for Clergy and Pastor of Saint James in Falls Church. He is the author of That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion and the editor of Sermons in Times of Crisis: Twelve Homilies to Stir Your Soul.

James V. Schall, S.J. (1928-2019), who served as a professor at Georgetown University for thirty-five years, was one of the most prolific Catholic writers in America. Among his many books are The Mind That Is Catholic, The Modern Age, Political Philosophy and Revelation: A Catholic Reading, Reasonable Pleasures, Docilitas: On Teaching and Being Taught, Catholicism and Intelligence, and, most recently, On Islam: A Chronological Record, 2002-2018.

Fr. Joseph Scolaro is a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre currently studying for a license and doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Nicholas Senz is the Director of Children's and Adult Faith Formation at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Arlington, TX, where lives with his wife and two children. He holds master's degrees in philosophy and theology from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. His website is nicholassenz.com.

Robert W. Shaffern is a professor of medieval history at the University of Scranton. Dr. Shaffern also teaches courses in ancient and Byzantine civilization, as well as the Italian Renaissance and the Reformation. He is the author of The Penitents’ Treasury: Indulgences in Latin Christendom, 1175-1375.

Russell Shaw is a former Secretary for Public Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity, and, most recently (with David Byers) Revitalizing Catholicism in America: Nine Tasks for Every Catholic.

Ven. Fulton John Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois on May 8, 1895. He attended Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota and was ordained in 1919. After further studies at Catholic University, he earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. In 1930, Msgr. Sheen began a Sunday night radio show, “The Catholic Hour," and in 1951 then-Bishop Sheen launched “Life Is Worth Living,” which became one of America’s top-rated TV shows and won him an Emmy in 1952. He was elevated to archbishop by Pope Paul VI in 1969. He died on December 9, 1979. He was declared a Venerable Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI on July 28, 2012.

Edward Short lives in New York with his wife and two young children. His most recent book is Newman and History (Gracewing).

Tracy Lee Simmons is the author of Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin. A contributor to National Review, he teaches humanities in the Westover Honors College at the University of Lynchburg.

Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body.

R. J. Snell is visiting lecturer at Princeton University and a Director of the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ. His most recent book is Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire.

Richard A. Spinello is Professor of Management Practice at Boston College and a member of the adjunct faculty at St. John’s Seminary in Boston. He is the author of The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary and The Splendor of Marriage: St. John Paul II’s Vision of Love, Marriage, Family, and the Culture of Life.

Clifford Staples is a Professor of Sociology at the University of North Dakota and a Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. Cliff is a lector at weekday Mass and a member of St. Michael’s Jail Ministry. His essays have appeared in The Catholic Thing, Crisis, The Christian Review, and Catholic Exchange.

Saint Edith Stein (b. 1892) was a Jewish convert to Catholicism, who became Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross after joining the Discalced Carmelite order in 1933. She was arrested by the Nazi SS on August 2, 1942, sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and murdered with many others in a gas chamber there on August 7, 1942. She was canonized by St. John Paul II on October 11, 1998 as Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce.

Father Peter Stravinskas holds doctorates in school administration and theology. He is the founding editor of The Catholic Response and publisher of Newman House Press. Most recently, he launched a graduate program in Catholic school administration through Pontifex University.

Chuck Donovan is president and Nora Sullivan is research assistant at the Charlotte Lozier Institute in Washington, D.C.

Roseanne T. Sullivan is a journalist, poet, and essayist, who has published writings on a broad range of topics—on whatever attracts her Catholic imagination—at Catholic Arts Today, California Catholic Daily,Catholic Literary Arts, Dappled Things, National Catholic Register, New Liturgical Movement, Regina Magazine, ReligionUnplugged, Sacred Music Journal, and other publications.

Brian G. Svoboda is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Nebraska, he lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is an Italian economist and banker, and ex-President of the Institute for Works of Religion, also known as the Vatican Bank. A longer version of this column first appeared, in Italian, in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, an influential Catholic journal published in Northern Italy.

Pope St. Leo I, Doctor of the Church, was born in Tuscany c. 400. He became pope at 40 and reigned for 21 years. During his papacy, he confronted several heresies and Attila the Hun. He was a significant contributor to the centralization of spiritual authority within the Church and in reaffirming papal authority.

Deacon James H. Toner, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Leadership and Ethics at the U.S. Air War College, a former U.S. Army officer, and author of numerous articles, books, essays, and reviews. He has taught at Notre Dame, Auburn, and Holy Apostles College & Seminary. He has also served as “Distinguished Visiting Chair of Character Development” at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is incardinated in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Dr. Hilary Towers is a developmental psychologist and mother of five children. A non-resident scholar at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR), she writes and speaks on the subjects of marriage and spousal abandonment.

Stacy Trasancos is the Executive Director of Bishop Joseph Strickland's St. Philip Institute in Tyler, TX. . She is the author of Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science and the mother of seven.

Michael Uhlmann (1939-2019) served in the Reagan White House and taught American politics at the Claremont Graduate University.

Aaron Urbanczyk is a scholar, writer, and teacher who lives and works in Nashville, TN.

Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek, STD has been a priest of the Diocese of Austin since 1985 and is currently pastor of Assumption parish in the city of West. His studies were in Dogmatics with a focus on Ecclesiology, Apostolic Ministry, Newman, and Ecumenism. His new book is As I Have Loved You: Rediscovering Our Salvation in Christ (Emmaus Road Publishing). Click here to watch Scott Hahn interview Fr. Vaverek about about the book.

Paul C. Vitz, is Senior Scholar at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, Divine Mercy University and Professor Emeritus at New York University. His Ph. D. is from Stanford University. He has published widely in psychology, especially as it elates to Christianity. His latest book is Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism. He is married to Evelyn (Timmie), a professor at NYU; they have six children and 21 grandchildren.

Christine de Marcellus Vollmer is president of PROVIVE in Venezuela, coordinator of the Curriculum Alive to the World, and has served as a member of the Pontifical Council for Family (1990-2016) and of the Pontifical Academy for Life from (1994-2016). She also served on the Holy See Delegation to the United Nations (1990-1995).

David Walsh is a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America and author, among many other books, of Politics of the Person as the Politics of Being.

Scott Walter is a senior fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The views expressed are his own.

David Warren is a former editor of the Idler magazine and columnist in Canadian newspapers. He has extensive experience in the Near and Far East. His blog, Essays in Idleness, is now to be found at: davidwarrenonline.com.

Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, a prolific writer and one of the most prominent living theologians, is a former member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission. His newest book is the third volume of Jesus Becoming Jesus: A Theological Interpretation of the Gospel of John: The Book of Glory and the Passion and Resurrection Narratives.

Anne Hendershott and Christopher White, new contributors to The Catholic Thing, are coauthors of the forthcoming Beyond the Catholic Culture Wars (Encounter Books).

Stephen P. White is executive director of The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America and a fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Andreas Widmer, a former Papal Swiss Guard, is the cofounder of the SEVEN Fund, a philanthropic organization run by entrepreneurs who invest in original research, books, films, and websites to further enterprise solutions to poverty. He is also author of The Pope & the CEO: John Paul II’s Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard (Emmaus Road Publishing). This is an edited excerpt from that work, reprinted with permission.

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia. Among his many books are The Christians as the Romans Saw Them and The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. Today’s columns is a shortened version of his “A Christmas Eve Sermon.”

THOMAS D. WILLIAMS PhD is an internationally renowned Catholic theologian, speaker and writer, and a certified sommelier. He teaches theology at the Rome campus of St. John's University and is widely known for his on-air commentary and analysis for NBC, CBS News, and Sky News in the UK. The author of eighteen books, most recently The Coming Christian Persecution: Why Things Are Getting Worse and How to Prepare for What Is to Come . Williams lives in Rome with his wife and family.

James Matthew Wilson has published ten books, including, most recently, The Strangeness of the Good (Angelico) and The Vision of the Soul: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in the Western Tradition (CUA). Professor of Humanities and Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas (Houston), he also serves as poet-in-residence for the Benedict XVI Institute, poetry editor for Modern Age magazine, and as series editor for Colosseum Books, from the Franciscan University at Steubenville Press. His Amazon page is here.

Joseph Wood is an itinerant philosopher and easily accessible hermit affiliated with Cana Academy, Walsh University, The Catholic University of America, and the University of Notre Dame Australia, none of which bears any responsibility for his errors or missteps.

Tod Worner is a Catholic husband, father, and internal medicine physician practicing in Minneapolis. He blogs regularly as A Catholic Thinker for Patheos. Dr. Worner has created a Catholic curriculum for high school students finished with confirmation, and also lectures on titans and tyrants from World War II. He is currently at work on his first book.

Fr. Thomas Wray is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Chaplain to Ruah Woods Press, a Theology of the Body teaching institute

Pope Zosimus was Holy Father for just over a year (March 417-December 418). Little is known about him before he was elected pope, except that he was Calabrian. As pope he was involved in the condemnation of Pelagianism