Category: Current Issues

Msgr. Charles Pope is currently a dean and pastor in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, where he has served on the Priest Council, the College of Consultors, and the Priest Personnel Board. Along with publishing a daily blog at the Archdiocese of Washington website, he has written in pastoral journals, conducted numerous retreats for priests and lay faithful, and has also conducted weekly Bible studies in the U.S. Congress and the White House. He was named a Monsignor in 2005. User’s Guide to Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King Sunday, Nov. 21, is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus …

John M. Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. He is especially interested in moral theology and the thought of John Paul II. [Note: All views expressed in his National Catholic Register contributions are exclusively the author’s.] “Grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise.” As the liturgical year concludes, we also wrap up a year of Scriptures & Art. The purpose of this blog series was twofold: to recognize the breadth of cultural influence Catholic …

Joan Frawley Desmond is the Register’s senior editor. She is an award-winning journalist widely published in Catholic, ecumenical and secular media. A graduate of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies of Marriage and Family, she lives with her family in California. Sen. Durbin complains that his pro-abortion voting record has kept him from receiving Communion in his home diocese, and a Catholic priest and journalist offers a sympathetic ear. Sen. Durbin complains that his pro-abortion voting record has kept him from receiving Communion in his home diocese, and a Catholic priest and journalist offers a sympathetic ear. Joan …

Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN’s National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter …

Michael Warsaw is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the EWTN Global Catholic Network, and the Publisher of the National Catholic Register. A NOTE FROM OUR PUBLISHER: Archbishop José Gomez’s timely observations point to the intrinsic shortcomings of these contemporary ideologies that lately have become so prominent in our national discourse. Michael WarsawPublisher’s NoteNovember 13, 2021 Recently, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered an important set of observations about the rise of new secular ideologies and movements for social change in the United States and the implications for …

Susan Klemond is a freelance writer living in St. Paul, Minn., who writes news and feature articles for the Register, OSV Newsweekly, and the Catholic Spirit, the diocesan paper for St. Paul-Minneapolis. She also has worked in marketing, editing, and magazine production. The recent resignation of Spanish bishop and exorcist Xavier Novell Goma has drawn attention to challenges exorcists can face. As the Church’s representatives, exorcists are given Christ’s authority in his name to deliver or protect persons or objects from Satan’s power and withdraw them from his dominion — but several exorcists say they need the Church’s support to …

K.V. Turley is the Register’s U.K. correspondent. He writes from London. Why did the best-selling author sign the petition to retain the traditional Mass 50 years ago? We have a mystery to solve.  The suspect is none other than Agatha Christie: best-selling author and undisputed “Queen of Crime.”  The mystery starts with a document composed in 1971. It came from the Vatican, where the then-reigning pontiff, Pope Paul VI, issued an indult permitting what was known as the Tridentine Mass to continue to be said in England and Wales.  What was striking about this document, which is generally only of interest solely …