Meet the Catholics Who Shaped Our Country, including Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ, Friend of “Sitting Bull”

Meet the Catholics Who Shaped Our Country, including Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ, Friend of “Sitting Bull”

On the cover of the history textbook The American Venture, students will see a picture of Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, S.J. (featured photo in this article).  Outside the Catholic Church, not many people have heard of him. And even among Catholic students and laity, few have heard of him.  Yet Fr. De Smet played a…

Catholic Textbook Project Announces Winners of their Annual History Essay Contest

Catholic Textbook Project Announces Winners of their Annual History Essay Contest

Winners of Catholic Textbook Project’s annual history essay contest for Catholic schools were announced this week. “Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s history essay contest. We received many excellent entries from parochial, private, and home schools. Choosing the winners is never easy, and it wasn’t this year, either!,” announced Michael Van Hecke, founder and…

This Week in History: German Government Surrenders to the Allies: May 7, 1945

This Week in History: German Government Surrenders to the Allies: May 7, 1945

This week in history — Though the Allies had driven the Germans from France, they bogged down along the fortifications that guarded the German fatherland. By mid-October 1944, the allies had taken Aachen, Metz, and Strasbourg; in November and early December, fierce German resistance halted their advance into the Saar region. For fear of unconditional…

Coronation of King Charles III: A guide to the Christian and Catholic symbols in the coronation

Coronation of King Charles III: A guide to the Christian and Catholic symbols in the coronation

CNA—King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday in Westminster Abbey in the first royal coronation since that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years ago. The coronation will be a Christian service, centered on the celebration of holy communion in an Anglican (Church of England) liturgy. Originally centered on the Catholic Eucharist But…

SAINTS AT WORK: St. Edward the Confessor – King of England

SAINTS AT WORK: St. Edward the Confessor – King of England

St. Edward was born in 1003, the son of the Duke of Normandy and nephew of King Edmund Ironside of England. Grew up in exile He grew up in exile in Normandy from the age of 10, when the Danes gained control of England. The early experience of loss, coupled with his earnest religious piety,…

Parliament Emancipates Catholics: April 13, 1829

Parliament Emancipates Catholics: April 13, 1829

Conditions did not improve when George IV (featured image) became king of England in 1820. As regent for his insane father, George III, since 1811, George IV had long supported the repression of radicals. Though a clever man (he was a student of the classics and fluent in French, Italian and German), George IV was…

Bringing a Life Monument to the Texas Capitol

Bringing a Life Monument to the Texas Capitol

Can A Dream of a Statue that Recognizes the Dignity of the Human Person Through “Mother and Child” Come True in Today’s America? Some years ago my wife Pat and I were at a Legatus Summit in Florida and on display there were pictures of the beautiful sculptures by internationally known sculptor Timothy Schmalz. We…

Crushed in an earthquake, shattered 15th-century cross restored in time for Easter

Crushed in an earthquake, shattered 15th-century cross restored in time for Easter

CNA—In the late summer and fall of 2016, central Italy was devastated by several powerful earthquakes. Numerous historic churches and buildings were destroyed in the quakes — including one of the oldest monastic complexes in Italy, the Abbey of Sant’Eutizio, whose bell tower and church roof collapsed. One of the Benedictine abbey’s artworks, a crucifix…

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