Jonah McKeown

Jonah McKeown

Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.

Articles by Jonah McKeown

Young Catholics converge at SEEK23: ‘I love seeing people fall in love with Jesus’

Jan 6, 2023 / 15:45 pm

More than 17,000 people descended on St. Louis this week for the SEEK23 Catholic conference, put on by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. 

Catholic speakers at SEEK23 remember Pope Benedict XVI on the day of his burial

Jan 5, 2023 / 14:55 pm

Some 17,000 people are gathered in St. Louis for a weeklong conference of speakers, prayer, and fellowship put on by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

Personal secretary of Benedict XVI set to publish new book: Who is he? 

Jan 3, 2023 / 11:00 am

Pope Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, has written a firsthand account of his friend and mentor’s papacy.

Remembering Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States

Jan 2, 2023 / 10:00 am

Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, visited the United States only once, but he left a lasting impression.

Where Catholics live in the United States, explained in four charts

Jan 2, 2023 / 05:00 am

Catholicism is the largest religious body in 36 U.S. states, and the data show that Catholicism is growing fastest in the South and West, even as it declines in the Midwest and Northeast. 

U.S. lay Catholic organizations mourn the loss of Pope Emeritus Benedict

Jan 1, 2023 / 15:03 pm

Major U.S.-based lay Catholic groups expressed their gratitude for the late pope’s life and legacy.

Here are your favorite Christmas carols (kind of)

Dec 27, 2022 / 08:00 am

For the second year in a row, we at CNA conducted an informal poll on social media to determine which Christmas carol reigns supreme as our readers’ favorite.

The Christmas Truce of 1914: Here’s what really happened

Dec 25, 2022 / 10:00 am

On a chilly Christmas morning, soldiers from both sides of the trenches clambered over the barbed wire, arms raised, and shook hands.

Priests for Life's Frank Pavone: ‘The next pope can reinstate me’ to the priesthood

Dec 19, 2022 / 17:05 pm

“This idea that any of this is permanent in terms of dismissal from the priesthood is simply incorrect," Frank Pavone said in an interview Monday.

Today is an ember day. What’s that?

Dec 17, 2022 / 09:00 am

This Saturday, Dec. 17, is a special day in the Catholic Church, though relatively few Catholics probably realize it.

Nigerian musician files lawsuit with Supreme Court challenging blasphemy conviction

Dec 16, 2022 / 14:15 pm

ADF International says the appeal has the potential to overturn Northern Nigeria’s blasphemy laws.

Ortega seeking to ‘destroy the Catholic Church in Nicaragua,’ advocates tell Congress 

Dec 15, 2022 / 15:45 pm

Human rights experts decried the ongoing repression of the Church by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and urged additional U.S. action to oppose Ortega’s regime. 

Hungary stands out for its aid to beleaguered Christians in Iraq. Here’s why

Dec 14, 2022 / 15:44 pm

Hungarian President Katalin Novák visited Iraq last week, stopping at a majority-Christian town that has been rebuilt in recent years almost entirely with Hungarian support. 

Federal judge allows for coverage of fertility awareness methods under health insurance

Dec 9, 2022 / 15:00 pm

Fertility awareness methods enable women to track their fertile cycles by charting one or more biomarkers. Couples can use this information to avoid or achieve pregnancy.

Indiana abortion doctor drops lawsuit against state attorney general 

Dec 9, 2022 / 10:32 am

After Caitlin Bernard disclosed she performed an abortion last summer on a 10-year-old Ohio child who was raped, Indiana's AG asked the state medical licensing board to discipline her.

Baltimore abuse survivors file request to make abuse report public

Dec 8, 2022 / 14:45 pm

The survivors are attempting to make public a recently sealed attorney general’s report that claims to chronicle hundreds of instances of clerical abuse.

Michigan church sues state over right to hire staff committed to Catholic teachings

Dec 7, 2022 / 12:55 pm

The parish is suing the state over a court ruling redefining “sex” discrimination that they argue threatens the parish’s ability to hire people.

Baltimore seals documents related to clerical sexual abuse report

Dec 6, 2022 / 15:30 pm

A judge in Baltimore this week ordered everything related to the release of a major attorney general’s report on clerical sexual abuse to be made confidential. 

Human rights commission ‘outraged’ as State Department excludes Nigeria from watchlist

Dec 5, 2022 / 15:00 pm

In Nigeria at least 60,000 Christians have been killed, many by their Muslim countrymen, over the past two decades.

The mighty Mississippi was once named ‘River of the Immaculate Conception.’ Here’s why

Dec 4, 2022 / 08:00 am

“Immaculate” is not a word most people would use to describe the Mississippi River’s famously muddy waters. But Father Jacques Marquette was not most people.