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…
CNA—A Catholic freelance journalist who has reported on a surge of violent attacks by radicalized Muslims in Nigeria for CNA recently found himself caught in the middle of a firefight between government soldiers and armed militiamen. “With hundreds of bullets flying over my head, and the whizzing gunfire whipping past my ears, lying flat on…
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…
Don’t Miss this film on Catholic businessman Jimmy Lai—WSJ—Currently imprisoned by the Chinese government for pressing the case for freedom and democracy, the defiant entrepreneur and media mogul is the focus of a stirring, free-to-stream documentary. “It would be so boring just being a businessman,” notes the Hong Kong entrepreneur and media mogul Jimmy Lai,…
WSJ—A Hong Kong court ruled Friday that imprisoned newspaperman Jimmy Lai, a devout Catholic, can’t hire the British lawyer he wants for his upcoming national security trial. That came the morning after Mr. Lai’s son Sebastian accepted the Cato Institute’s prestigious Milton Friedman Prize on behalf of his father in Washington. The two events tell…
A book review of The Unspoken Rules, by Harvard career advisor Gorick Ng— If you are a recent graduate or an early professional looking to make a splash in your career, then The Unspoken Rules: The Secret to Starting Your Career Off Right, by Gorick Ng is a book that you definitely need to read.…
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…
A proven guide on how to survive and lead during inflation — Inflation that we have not seen in 40 years is here to stay, with no foreseeable reduction in sight. It is not transitory. Best-selling author Ram Charan, whom I have known for 40 years, experienced the insidious inflation of the 1970s. So have…
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…
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,…
CNA—Federal government regulators backed off their demands that a Catholic hospital extinguish its chapel candle after the Oklahoma hospital’s lawyers argued that their client’s religious freedom was being violated. The hospital was informed that it will receive a waiver, provided it posts signs warning about keeping oxygen equipment away from the tabernacle candle, which is…
— read latest update here — From time immemorial, Catholic parishes’ sanctuary lamps have signaled the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. But the current U.S. administration’s federal officials recently told a thriving Catholic hospital to extinguish its chapel sanctuary lamps or stop serving elderly, disabled and low-income patients. Feds threaten to strip hospital…
Denver—Twenty-two states, six Colorado state legislators, and multiple advocacy groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the Colorado Supreme Court, asking it to uphold the First Amendment freedoms of cake artist Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop. The case name is: Scardina v. Masterpiece Cakeshop Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys representing Phillips and his cake shop filed…
American Airlines pilots just voted to strike, Southwest pilots are likely to follow suit according to various news reports. If you have travel plans coming up soon, expect to see pilot picket lines at major airports. But that said, “voting to strike” is not the same as “not showing up to work.” These days, at…
St. Catherine of Siena is one of the most influential saints in the history of the Church, but how much do you know about her life and legacy? This saint offers a wealth of inspiration and imitation-worthy mentorship for Catholic business leaders at all levels of work and life. Born in Siena, Italy, in 1347, …
CNA—Police were called to maintain order at a Catholic school board meeting in Ontario, Canada, during a discussion about whether the board should fly a gay pride flag at its central office throughout June to support gay pride month. The York Catholic District School Board met Tuesday night to consider the proposal. After hearing two…
American layman Curtis Martin, founder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), was named by Pope Francis to serve along with 13 other consultors as advisors to the members of the Dicastry of Evangelization. Since FOCUS was founded in 1998, it has grown to have hundreds of full-time student missionaries who serve tens of…
Richard Joseph Riordan was the first Catholic to serve as Mayor of Los Angeles in the modern era, serving as mayor from 1993 to 2001. He is largely credited for guiding the city in the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. Riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake. “Tough enough to turn L.A. around” As a successful…
St. Joseph the Worker—Hanging on the wall in my childhood home was a simple image of Joseph the carpenter, working with a piece of wood. My dad for most of his life was also a carpenter, building homes for his small business, The Village Carpenter, and thus especially liked this image. On May 1, we…
Catholic Business Journal sponsor CATHOLIC TEXTBOOK PROJECT, the creator of superior history textbooks for Catholic students and now used in Catholic schools in more than 100 dioceses and in English-speaking pockets of Catholic schools around the world, has a remarkable offer for Catholic schools only… “I wholeheartedly endorse the Catholic Textbook Project for the Diocese…
