The Catholic Difference is a weekly column syndicated by the Archdiocese of Denver.
On Not Buying Into the Mythology of “Prestige” Universities
Some years ago, a Catholic prep school invited me to address its parents’ association on the future of Catholic education. After describing how a truly Catholic education, stressing human and
A Catholic Gentleman Behind the Plate
As Major League Baseball begins its post-season, let us pause and remember the late, great Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers, who died this past August 19: a Catholic gentleman
The Casaroli Myth
When I met Cardinal Agostino Casaroli on February 14, 1997, the architect of the Vatican’s Ostpolitik and its soft-spoken approach to communist regimes in east central Europe in the 1960s and 1970s
Catholic “Beliefs” and the Abortion Debate
Do Catholics “believe that human life begins at conception”—a formulation that’s become ubiquitous in recent weeks? Well, yes, in precisely the same sense that Catholics “believe” that the Earth is
A Bold Catholic Investment in Inner-City Education
It’s a safe bet that “Mother Mary Lange” is not a household name in most U.S. Catholic circles. That unhappy state of affairs may change, though, thanks to a courageous
The Mighty Pen of Father Paul Mankowski, S.J.
In the summer before the Second Vatican Council opened, Pope John XXIII met with Cardinal Léon-Joseph Suenens in the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. “I know what my part in
Vatican Diplomacy Making a Difference
This past June 25, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States—usually dubbed the “Vatican’s foreign minister”—told a press conference that he and his colleagues didn’t believe
Wanted: A Catholic Chaim Potok
In the three decades since the Revolution of 1989, Poland’s many cultural achievements include mastering the craft of creating the 21st-century historical museum. Examples include the Warsaw Uprising Museum in the national
A Church in Mission or a Church in Meetings?
On the Solemnity of Christ the King in 2013, Pope Francis completed the work of the 2012 Synod of Bishops with the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), issuing
Pope Leo XIII and Contemporary Catholic Contentions
Given everything else going on these days, it may seem strange that a 129-year-old encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, founding father of modern Catholic social doctrine, should have become a
Moral Courage and the Many Cultures of Death
CRACOW. Thanks to the pandemic, it’s been two years since I was last in Cracow, where for three decades I’ve done extensive research and taught great students while forming friendships
The Bishops, Donatism, and President Biden
In an article first posted at Commonweal and republished on July 7 in La Croix International, Professor John Thiel of Fairfield University, while criticizing the U.S. bishops’ decision to prepare a teaching document
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