The German bishops’ conference, over the cliff December 17, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference It is tragic that this abandonment of theological sanity and pastoral responsibility coincides with the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, in which German bishops and theologians (including the future Pope Benedict XVI) played significant roles.
Rome and the Church in the U.S. December 10, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Bishops, Commentary, The Catholic Difference The bishops speak in the public square on a host of issues, and they do so with the voice of public reason, not as “culture-warriors” (another silly epithet applied to them by bears of little brain).
Books for Christmas 2025 December 3, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Books, Commentary, The Catholic Difference Surveys indicate that reading books is dropping precipitously across all age groups. This is a tragedy in itself; it’s also a social disaster, as a post-literate society risks becoming a post-rational society. All the more reason, then, to consider giving books for Christmas: books that entertain, inform, and open new horizons of understanding.
Baltimore native Weigel honored for defense of human dignity in the face of aggression December 1, 2025By Katarzyna Szalajko OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, The Catholic Difference, War in Ukraine, World News American theologian and author George Weigel was honored Nov. 30 with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Blessed Omelyan Kovch Award at the National Opera House in Lviv, Ukraine.
Ukraine’s religious leaders and Munich 2.0 November 26, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference, War in Ukraine The U.S. government released a multi-point “peace plan” that should cause anyone familiar with the history of the late 1930s to recoil in disgust and anger.
Sportsmanship and the season of our discontents November 12, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, Sports, The Catholic Difference The deterioration of our games is part and parcel of the deterioration of our culture. And as politics is downstream from culture, end-zone ridiculousness and similar self-aggrandizing debaucheries in other forms of entertainment have inevitably leaked into politics like a poison.
Newman and the new ultramontanism November 5, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, Saints, The Catholic Difference The irony of Newman being given this rare honor just now lies in the fact that the unity of the Church is threatened by recrudescent ultramontanism: not the old, 19th-century reactionary model, but a new hybrid combining Catholic progressivism in the realm of ideas with liberal authoritarianism in Church governance.
A timely anniversary October 29, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, The Catholic Difference Antisemitism is a malignancy in society. Throughout modern political history, rising antisemitism has been an unmistakable marker of cultural decay.
Dying from compassion October 22, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, Respect Life, The Catholic Difference This descent into emotivism and sentimentality has profound consequences for society as well as for individuals.
An important civics lesson, well taught October 8, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Books, Commentary, Supreme Court, The Catholic Difference What I find most impressive in Justice Barrett’s book, however, is not its depth of knowledge or its readability but its tacit display of public service lived vocationally: not as a matter of career enhancement, not as a means of acquiring wealth, and certainly not as performance art.
Catholics and gender ideology September 24, 2025By George Weigel Filed Under: Commentary, The Catholic Difference Bishop Thomas does not hesitate to tell two important truths. First, gender ideology proposes a false idea of our humanity: one that denies the biblical truth about us, reduces us to mere bundles of morally equal desires, and does serious damage to individuals and society. Second, gender dysphoria causes real suffering, but there is no clinical evidence that “transitioning” yields long-term mental health benefits.
A heroic example September 18, 2025By George Weigel Syndicated Columnist Filed Under: Commentary, Sports, The Catholic Difference America needs the example of a real hero: a dedicated hero who enhances natural talents by hard work and takes pride in a craft; an unselfish hero who places team above self.
