Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
World News
World News
Being free, private wars, and loony politics
Pillar paid subscribers can listen to Ed read this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DRHappy Friday friends.If I am honest, I have been laboring under something of a lingering 4th of July hangover all week. I tried to shoot the festive moon last weekend: family in town, all day cook-out with friends f...
World News
Catalonia poll suggests young adults are bucking secular trend
Young people aged 18 to 24 in the Spanish region of Catalonia are more likely to identify as Catholics than those aged 25 to 34, according to new research by a government public opinion research agency.The official flag of Catalonia flies in Barcelona. Credit: Darer101/wikimedia CC0 1.0 Universal Pu...
World News
Caritas critical in Venezuela earthquake aftermath
Caritas Venezuela has received more than 14,700 tons of humanitarian aid for victims of the June 24 earthquakes, according to a July 7 announcement from the humanitarian arm of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference.Venezuelan citizens search destroyed buildings in La Guaira, Venezuela June 28, 2026. Cr...
World News
Why has a Kenyan bishop imposed a curfew on clergy?
A Kenyan bishop issued a pastoral letter Sunday, announcing a canonical suspension for a significant proportion of his diocesan presbyterate, along with a slate of rules for his diocesan priests.Bishop Hieronymus Emusugut Joya of Maralal, Kenya. Credit: Screenshot from @ochiengzachary563 YouTube cha...
World News
Are priestly ordinations rising or falling? Depends on where you are
Priestly ordinations in the United States are up slightly from last year, but are heavily concentrated in certain regions of the country.According to data gathered and analyzed by The Pillar, of the 342 men ordained to the diocesan priesthood in 2026, a little more than half were ordained in Midwest...
The weeds, the wheat, and the patient king
Dr. Scott Powell, JD Flynn, and Kate Olivera look ahead to the readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time— including a reading from Wisdom and Jesus’ telling of several subversive parables about the kingdom of God.ShareThis episode of Sunday School is brought to you by the Pillar’s exclusive...
World News
Indian lay group deplores ‘mob’ threats against Salesian Sisters
India’s largest lay Catholic organization condemned Monday an incident in the state of West Bengal in which a mob reportedly threatened violence against religious sisters.Barasat Junction railway station in West Bengal, India. Credit: Projjalm/wikimedia CC0 1.0.The All India Catholic Union said that...
World News
SSPX illicitly ordains four new bishops
The traditionalist Society of St. Pius X illicitly ordained four new bishops Wednesday, despite a last-minute appeal by Pope Leo XIV, and the prospect of declared canonical penalties for the ecclesiastical crime of schism.Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta ordains four new SSPX bishops in Écône, Switzerlan...
World News
Leo winds back Francis-era reforms to Diocese of Rome
Pope Leo XIV rolled back key parts of Pope Francis’ 2023 reform of the Diocese of Rome on Jun. 30, issuing a new motu proprio that re-centers diocesan governance around the Cardinal Vicar.Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar of Rome. Credit: Vatican media.Three years after Francis promulgated the aposto...
World News
Retired Nicaraguan bishop detained after Mass, hospital visit
The Nicaraguan dictatorship detained and released a retired bishop Jun. 29 after a hospital visit.Bishop Abelardo Mata, SDB. Credit: Confidencial 30 via YouTube.Eighty-year-old Bishop Abelardo Mata, SDB, emeritus Bishop of Estelí, was held in police custody for several hours on Monday after celebrat...
World News
‘A monument for politics’ — Inside one diocese’s battle against a planned border wall
The U.S. government’s attempt to build a section of border wall on a popular New Mexico pilgrimage site is being contested by the local diocese.A diocesan official told The Pillar the wall would be a political monument to a policy he said is opposed to Catholic teaching, while a federal agent told T...
World News
Vatican confirms six SSPX bishops excommunicated
The Vatican declared Thursday the excommunications of all six bishops of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X following the illicit episcopal consecration in Écône, Switzerland on July 1.Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta consecrates four new SSPX bishops in Écône, Switzerland, on July 1, 2026. Screens...