Dorothy Day: Catholic Worker founder pioneered a faith-based alternative to secularist progressivism May 9, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary Dorothy Day was co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and longtime editor of the penny-a-copy newspaper of the same name. From the mid-1930s to the early 1980s, she preached radical Christianity and no less radical social activism to a sometimes appreciative, sometimes puzzled, sometimes angry audience of American Catholics.
Father John Courtney Murray: Advocate for cooperation between church, state May 2, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary By all odds, the distinguished intellectual landmark in the project of integrating Catholicism and Americanism is “We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition,” a collection of essays published in 1960 by the theologian Jesuit Father John Courtney Murray.
Cardinal Francis Spellman: A dramatic, hard-fought rise to the top April 25, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary Many cardinals have had books written about them, but few have become the fictionalized heroes of best-selling novels. Cardinal Francis J. Spellman, archbishop of New York from 1939 to 1967, was one — possibly the only one.
New York Gov. Al Smith: Perseverance in both political endeavors, faith April 18, 2026By Russell Shaw OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Commentary To President Franklin Roosevelt, he was the “Happy Warrior.” To suspicious Protestants, he was a pawn of the pope. Amid such conflicting views as these, the remarkable political career of Al Smith was forged.
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.
‘We need more saints’: Center helps to advance canonization causes April 11, 2026By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Feature, News, Saints, World News As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, a California-based initiative is working to help speed along sainthood causes among Americans, and to make the canonization process more accessible overall.
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.”
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage seeks to be a sacred journey for U.S. at 250 years March 29, 2026By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Eucharist, Feature, News, World News The upcoming National Eucharistic Pilgrimage — which takes place as the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026 — marks a moment for “a country still in conversion,” and “a country still on pilgrimage,” said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress organization.
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.
America at 250: Celebrating both a birthday and a history of religious liberty March 21, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News As the United States indulges in a star-spangled celebration of its 250th birthday, a cornerstone of historical significance that stands out is religious freedom, and unlike for many other nations, it is a unique founding principle of this nation.
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.
Registration opens for National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s public events March 18, 2026By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: America's 250th anniversary, Eucharist, Feature, Local News, News Registration for public events during the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage opened March 18, revealing abundant opportunities for Catholics to join the nine “perpetual pilgrims” traveling the East Coast route from Florida to Maine that culminates in an Independence Day weekend celebration in Philadelphia and includes a stop in Baltimore.
