Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
World News
World News
Starting Seven: May 8, 2026
Welcome to Starting Seven, The Pillar’s daily newsletter.I’m Luke Coppen and I aim to guide you each weekday morning to the most interesting Catholic news and commentary. Read more
World News
Leo’s first year, the Germans’ coming surrender, and Met life
Pillar paid subscribers can listen to Ed read this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DRHappy Friday friends,And a happy first anniversary to our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, long may he reign.Thinking back to the moment last year when Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost was announced from the loggia with th...
World News
Reviewing ‘Raphael: Sublime Poetry’ at the Met
Yonder’s a work now, of that famous youthThe Urbinate who died five years ago.(’Tis copied, George Vasari sent it me.)Well, I can fancy how he did it all,Pouring his soul, with kings and popes to see,Reaching, that heaven might so replenish him,Above and through his art—for it gives way— from “Andre...
World News
Jesus does not recycle
Usually my husband takes the family trash to the dump, but he was sick, so I made the drive. I actually kind of enjoy this chore. Trash gets hurled into one dark hole of a bin, but there are several others waiting to receive plastic, glass, metal, and paper. What happens next, I don’t really know; b...
World News
‘There must be justice’ - Venezuelan bishops denounce death of political prisoner
Several Venezuelan bishops decried Friday the Venezuelan regime’s admission that a political prisoner died under law enforcement custody in July 2025.Our Lady of the Valley Basilica in Margarita Island, Venezuela. Credit: Wilfirdor / Wikimedia CC0.Subscribe nowOn May 7, the Ministry of Penitentiary...
World News
A bishop with three hats: Stock on England’s potential triple diocesan merger
England’s Bishop Marcus Stock is currently in the unusual position of overseeing not one but three dioceses.Bishop Marcus Stock of Leeds, England, at his episcopal ordination on Nov. 13, 2014. Credit: © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk.The 64-year-old has served since 2014 as the Bishop of Leeds, a histori...
World News
Mercy and Justice: Cardinal Cupich on Prison Ministry
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago speaks about the Church's commitment to those incarcerated and to restorative justice.
World News
World Youth Day: Building the Church of Tomorrow
From Rome in 1985 to Lisbon in 2023, World Youth Day has been one of the greatest engines of Catholic renewal in the modern era.
World News
Unity and Diversity in the Global Catholic Church
Delve into the tensions between nationalism and globalism, analyzing how leaders navigate the balance between prioritizing national interests and participating in global cooperation.