According to Pope Francis, it takes courage and the grit of a “revolutionary” not only to follow Christ in today’s world, but also to be genuinely happy along the way.

The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg began offering digital book clubs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020, and they continue several times a year under the direction of Anita DiGregory, virtual experience facilitator for the shrine.

A look at a few books that would make good Christmas gifts for Catholics.

Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talks with author George Weigel about his new book, “To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II.” The author discusses why the documents that came out of the church’s 21st plenary council are as beautiful today as they were when they were issued.

In addition to garnering a National Book Award, “Redeployment” marked Phil Klay as a writing force to be reckoned with.

Generations of people have come to know St. Teresa of Kolkata, better known as Mother Teresa, as a humanitarian, a role model, an example of holiness in action and an intercessor with God.

Is there intelligent extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe? And if there is, what do the Catholic Church, Scripture and theology have to say about it?

Joseph W. Pfeifer’s book, “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11” (Penguin Random House), published last year, won a Christopher Award in June. The awards, first presented in 1949 by the Christophers organization, founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, are presented annually for works that embody “the highest values of humanity.”

In “Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle,” Dr. Shannen Dee Williams provides the first full history of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. We speak with Dr. Williams about what inspired her to write this history and what she learned in her extensive research, which included a look at the Baltimore-based Oblate Sisters of Providence.

Given the rubbish about Ukraine spewed out by Russian propaganda trolls and regurgitated by foolish or ideologically besotted Americans, this year’s annual Summer Reading List will focus on serious books that explain the background, including the religious dimension, of a conflict that will shape Europe’s future – and ours.