Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Latest Articles
Featured
From Budapest to Princeton, Catholic scholars mobilize to reconnect faith and political life
Catholic political and social thought, one of the foundational intellectual traditions of Western civilization, is poised for renewal as a new international initiative seeks to bring it back into conversation with new generations and decision-makers of tomorrow.CatholicPOST, the Association for the...
Indian Catholics denied bail after confronting mob that disrupted Mass
UDAIPUR, India — Nine Catholics have been behind bars for more than two weeks after parishioners chased out more than a dozen people who barged into a village church during Mass, shouting accusations of conversion, in a remote village in Indiaʼs desert state of Rajasthan.“We feel frustrated that our...
Nigeria Catholic hospital fire leaves Marian statue untouched, draws non-Catholics to prayer
ENUGU, Nigeria — A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained untouched after a fire severely damaged sections of Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Enugu on May 10, the administrator at the facility said.In an interview with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN...
Religious freedom division restored at U.S. health agency’s civil rights office
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to reestablish a civil rights division focused on religious liberty and conscience protections that was initially created during President Donald Trump’s first administration.The move, announced May 18, restructures HHS’ Office of Civil R...
World News
Uganda postpones Martyrs’ Day celebrations over Ebola fears
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda has postponed the 2026 Martyrs’ Day celebrations, traditionally held on June 3 at the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine in the country’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala, because of the Ebola outbreak in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), from where thousands of pilgrims...
Calling nuclear weapons immoral, Archbishop Wester urges halt to production of plutonium pits
Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has strongly urged the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to stop expanding production of plutonium pits, the triggers used in nuclear weapons.In a written statement, read by a priest on Wester’s behalf at a public hearing on May 1...
White House official promotes faith-based drug abuse prevention and recovery programs
A White House official in President Donald Trump’s administration expressed a desire to work more closely with churches and faith-based leaders in efforts to confront both drug and human trafficking and assist in recovery.Victor Avila, assistant director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy...
Vatican News
‘God hears the cries of the victims,’ Mexican bishop assures at Walk for Peace
The president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference issued a powerful call to the Church and society not to turn away from those suffering because of the violence that is the result of organized crime, declaring that “our God hears the cries of the victims, walks with them, and calls upon us, too, not...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV thanks Catholic Extension Society for its assistance to migrants and the poor
In an address to its board of governors, Pope Leo XIV thanked the Catholic Extension Society on May 18 for the assistance it provides to the poor.The pontiff praised the organization’s founder, Father Francis Clement Kelley, who more than 120 years ago “sought to reach out to remote faith communitie...
Cultural shifts drive decline in U.S. marriage rates, Heritage report says
Cultural shifts regarding sex and unwed childbearing as well as heightened material expectations for marriage are the driving forces behind America’s falling marriage rates, according to a Heritage Foundation report.While declining wages among working-class men is sometimes cited as reason for decli...
Friar Storm: The pro wrestler and priest who inspired a Hollywood film and changed hundreds of lives
Sometimes clad in alb and chasuble, other times in a wrestling costume: Such was the life of the Mexican priest Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, better known as “Fray Tormenta” (“Friar Storm”), a man who celebrated Mass by day and wrestled in a mask by night.With the goal of sustaining an orphanage that pr...