Orestes Brownson: A spiritual seeker turned prominent Catholic intellectual ‘bomb-thrower’ April 11, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary By the end of his life, Orestes Brownson, who was the most distinguished American Catholic public intellectual of the 19th century, had become a ferocious critic of the Americanist path that most of his fellow Catholics had chosen.
Father Isaac Hecker: Father of American evangelization April 4, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary, Evangelization His great goal was the conversion of Protestant America to Catholicism, something he was convinced could happen. After all, he said, in the United States “true religion will find a reception it has in vain looked for elsewhere.”
Maryland’s Archbishop John Carroll: A Catholic bridge-builder in a fledgling nation March 28, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary, Feature A member of a wealthy and respected Catholic family, with excellent contacts among America’s political and social elite, Archbishop Carroll proved notably adept at building bridges with the non-Catholic world in a career spanning more than three decades.
Archbishop John Hughes: A new breed of bishop for the 19th century March 21, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary John Hughes reigned — the word fits his style — as Archbishop of New York from December 1842 until his death in January 1864. In that time he established himself in the eyes of his fellow Americans as a Catholic bishop unlike any they’d seen up to then.
Who is St. Augustine, the father of Pope Leo XIV’s order? May 13, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Saints, Vatican, World News “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” St. Augustine’s famous words addressed to God introduce his account of how a headstrong, self-indulgent young man became one of the most important Christian thinkers of all time and a saint — and the father of the Augustinian order, to which Pope Leo XIV belongs.
Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine? May 8, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: 2025 Conclave, News, Vatican, World News Cardinal Robert F. Prevost has selected the name Pope Leo XIV, an apparent nod to Pope Leo XIII, who deserves to be called the founding father of Catholic social doctrine in modern times, with his encyclical “Rerum Novarum” as its foundational document.
The modern popes: Get to know the 11 popes before Francis April 30, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Remembering Pope Francis, Vatican, World News The following is a snapshot of the papacies of the 11 popes that preceded Pope Francis, from Pope Benedict XVI to Blessed Pope Pius IX.
Pope Francis and persistent habit of ‘maybe’ April 24, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Remembering Pope Francis The legacy of Pope Francis is large and complex, with plenty of high points. But part of it is ambiguity and verbal confusion on matters of church doctrine, pointing to a need for clarification by whoever succeeds Francis on the chair of Peter.
Pope St. John Paul II: Witness to the world April 2, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Saints John Paul was an ecumenical and interreligious innovator.
Holiday message of ‘The Loved One’ January 8, 2025By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Commentary True faith rejoices in knowing that the life we celebrate at the stable in Bethlehem is the real answer to death.
‘A Christmas Carol’ December 23, 2024By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Christmas, Commentary I don’t know about you, but I make a point of giving “A Christmas Carol” a fresh reading every year, and it never disappoints.
Thanksgiving to whom? November 25, 2024By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: Commentary Thanksgiving is one of those few national holidays when a semi-religious sentiment is allowed.
