RealClearReligion Articles

The signs are everywhere. Posted outside of residences and businesses alike are announcements that a security service protects the premises. One of the unfortunate realities of our world is rising lawlessness, which makes people desperate for safety from the outside world. Yet the one place where they should be safe — God’s house — is not always the case. Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:9-10). Spiritual...

Fifty years ago, on September 14, 1975, Pope Paul VI proclaimed Elizabeth Ann Seton a saint — the first native-born American to be canonized. For American Catholics, it was a moment of pride and recognition: one of our own, a woman shaped by the struggles and hopes of this young nation, was formally declared a model of holiness for the universal Church. As we mark the golden anniversary of her canonization this September at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, we are reminded of the enduring relevance of Mother Seton’s story — a uniquely...

There is a startling resurgence of crusader-era anti-Jewish tropes in political Christian circles.  A ripe example of this phenomenon is Candace Owen’s latest rant in which she proclaimed she would “literally rather…saw off my own foot than support Israel ever again…Never supporting that demonic nation again” and “I am Catholic, I believe in real demons, and Netanyahu is very clearly a demon.”  Criticizing Israel, its policies, or its leaders is not antisemitic. What is, however, is broadcasting to millions of people that...

The role of prayer in civil society has emerged in the wake of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting, and this may be a blessing of sorts amidst the tragedy. This is because scientific research has shown time and again that religious faith and the practice of prayer check pathologies and improve quality of life on almost every level.  However, politicians and commentators belittled “thoughts and prayers” as ineffective in preventing other mass killings. Others, from Vice President JD Vance to Bishop Robert Barron to Franciscan...

“Look at this excavator, Lola!” I see nothing but brown eyes on my FaceTime screen. More often than not, the ceiling fan fills the screen, but my grandson is talking to me, and I’m delighted to hear his little voice. I keep my face fixed to my phone screen so that he will know his grandmother is listening to every word. I wish we didn’t live so far away from our grandchildren, but I am so grateful for a glimpse at them every few days through technology like FaceTime. Tips for intentional grandparenting don’t come naturally for me; frankly, I feel the least...

Last week, the shooter in Minneapolis of little children in a Catholic church-school during mass was discovered to have written on one of his weapons, “Where is your god [sic].” He used a picture of Jesus on his target in practice before the big day of shooting last Wednesday. And now the left says to us in effect: “Don’t pray, just prey.” The last part refers to allowing unfettered evil to flourish — to continue to prey on the weak and vulnerable. As Gary Bauer noted last Thursday: “Satan wrote the script for the atrocities that transpired...

100 days into the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, it appears that the College of Cardinals selected a pope with two attributes that were previously seen as impossible: An American, and a unifier. While many cardinals said that they wanted someone who could unite sparring factions of the Church, it was a tall task. But Pope Leo XIV, a native of Chicago, has found some early success.  Recent polling from Gallup shows Pope Leo XIV with an astonishing +46% net approval rating among Americans — 35 percentage points higher than the most popular American...

It’s time for Christians everywhere to reclaim the biblical meaning of Labor Day. Ask the average man or woman today how Labor Day started, and they’ll probably point to the labor movement. After all, Labor Day was first observed in 1882 in New York City under the auspices of the Central Labor Union. It became a federal holiday in 1894, following national labor protests and the Pullman Strike. Underpinning that union activism, however, was the biblical notion that workers deserve honor, dignity, and respect – not to mention a livable wage. Labor Day, properly conceived, is...

As parents across the U.S. prepare to send their children back to school this fall, many carry an underlying sense of fear. While stocking up on supplies, moving kids into dorms, or planning school schedules, there is a lingering unease about the unknowns ahead. While there is excitement for the new chapters to come, many parents feel concerned about what their children may be exposed to at school.  If we are not careful, our desire to control their environment can overshadow what matters most: trusting God no matter the circumstances.   Whether a child is starting kindergarten...

Last summer, in the wild plains of Montana — far from screens, suburbs and cell service. A group of Trail Life USA Trailmen (as we call the boys in the program) had come to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark, but this wasn’t a museum tour. This was a full-on Corps of Discovery expedition — rugged terrain, primitive campsites, packs on backs, navigating by map and compass, cooking over fires, hauling gear downriver. They set the goals. They made the plans. They faced challenges — and overcame them together. They grew not just as individuals, but as brothers....

I’ve been involved in the pro-life movement long enough to see progress and regress, setbacks and positive developments. Here’s a story of God using many active Christians of various churches to bring about a positive change. For 23 years, the Aastra Women’s Center in Ft. Lauderdale was committed to killing unborn babies. Surgical abortions cost about $800, and the clinic never seemed to lack any business. Countless preborn lives were snuffed out at this clinic. But things have changed lately. It began with the daily pro-life presence of sidewalk counselors outside Aastra....

The resurrection, that cardinal promise upon which Christianity stakes its claim to ultimate meaning, betrays what may constitute the Gospel's most radical theological insight, for when Mark's narrative concludes with women fleeing an empty tomb in wordless terror, offering neither the posthumous appearances that would vindicate faith nor the triumphant reversal that would justify suffering, what emerges from this narrative rupture transcends simple failure: the preservation of a divine love that manifests through absolute withdrawal rather than supernatural intervention, creating within its...

The world is more than meets the eye — and so is the Eucharist. Both invite us to wonder and expand our understanding of reality. Yet beyond allegorical similarity, they are metaphysically and intrinsically linked, drawing us into deeper communion and love with God and Creation. Our senses have limitations. Most would agree with that statement. As Plato argued in The Allegory of the Cave millennia ago, even our perception of reality may not always align with the truth. Nevertheless, humanity has ceaselessly sought to study, analyze, and comprehend the natural world. And with each...

Picture a seven-year-old girl living under communism in the 1980s. Her dad brings her to a local grocery store in the Ukraine, their home, in the old Soviet Union. He tells her to look around at the store and memorize the scene. This was described to me in a radio interview a few years ago by Marina Medvin, a successful D.C. area attorney and writer for Townhall and Forbes. She was that little girl. Marina’s father told her, “Make a photograph of this in your mind.” She does. The walls are bare. There are some shelves, but the only food item is on a shelf...

Exodus Decoded, a 2006 History Channel documentary, provides tantalizing and tangible evidence through various disciplines of knowledge confirming that the story of Exodus occurred much as the Bible described it. Separate disciplines — archaeology, anthropology, geology, climatology, and ancient history — provide investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici with the necessary disparate pieces in weaving the Biblical tapestry, threads that have heretofore been elusive to the historical investigators in completing the enigmatic tapestry of ancient history. The Hebrew patriarch Jacob...

*Editor's Note: This is taken from “A Minute of Hope: 100 Intentional Prayers for Times of Challenge and Change” by Cristina Baker. Copyright © 2025 by Cristina Baker. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. Did you know that the original Hebrew root of “be still” doesn’t mean “be quiet”? It means “let go.”  Let go and know that He is God. There is freedom in a surrendered heart, and through it, God will move in your life in a mighty way and do what only He can do. I remember a moment in my life where it seemed like the...

In an era that prides itself on “choice,” some choices are apparently more equal than others — at least in the eyes of liberal state governments. Across the country, a coordinated and aggressive assault is underway against crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) — the very institutions that offer women critical resources and information to make informed decisions about unexpected pregnancies. From Vermont to California, Washington State to New Jersey and even right here in Colorado, progressive lawmakers and state attorney generals are weaponizing government power to silence,...

Is college worth all the expense and trouble these days? I used to think it was. But look at all the changes for the worse. So much of what passes for a college education these days is indoctrination in political correctness. A recent study reported in Newsweek found that one in four Gen Z college graduates regret attending university — all the trouble, all the expense, all the debt. Pew Research Center says Gen Z are those born from 1997 through 2012. Writing for Newsweek, Suzanne Blake observes: “As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace and student debt balloons, a...

America’s healthcare system is broken. We are the most medicated, overweight, addicted, and depressed society in history — and it’s getting worse. Suicide rates are rising. Chronic illness is exploding. Our kids are anxious, distracted and disconnected. What’s missing from the national conversation? One word: brain. Our healthcare system is obsessed with symptoms, but it rarely asks the most important question: Is your brain healthy? That question changes everything. Brain health is the foundation of mental health, physical health, decisions, relationships and success....