History

The Latest

The Vatican Museums.

Vatican Museums announce new hours, ticket price, and entrance

Nov 10, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

The museums have announced a series of novelties beginning both this month and after the new year, in anticipation of... Read more

Wild West nun Sister Blandina is focus of a planned TV series titled "Trinidad."

Wild West nun Sister Blandina is focus of planned TV series ‘Trinidad’

Apr 8, 2023

By Kevin J. Jones

A trailer for the “Trinidad” series describes Sister Blandina Segale as “an unsung hero of the West who never carried... Read more

A guide to Dante’s Walk, a 235-mile route from Ravenna to Florence in Italy.

Catholics invited to make pilgrimage in Dante’s footsteps in anniversary year

Nov 11, 2021

By CNA Staff

Dante’s Walk is a 235-mile route between the Italian cities of Ravenna and Florence. Read more

Cardinal Eugene Tisserant, who was dean of the College of Cardinals from 1951 to 1972, and has been named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Yad Vashem: Vatican librarian Cardinal Tisserant made heroic efforts to save Jews

Oct 23, 2021

By Kevin J. Jones

Cardinal Eugene Tisserant was a librarian who knew more than 10 languages, advised multiple popes, and held key Vatican positions. Read more

Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa.

Reflections on the role of the Cathedral during the Tulsa Race Massacre and today

Jun 1, 2021

By Eastern Oklahoma Catholic

At the end of May, our local community will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Sparked by... Read more

Rubble of houses in Greenwood, Tulsa, after the 1921 race massacre.

Tulsa diocese mourns 100th anniversary of racial massacre

Jun 1, 2021

The Bishop of Tulsa commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa racial massacre last week, in an ecumenical vespers service... Read more

Black Elk, daughter Lucy Black Elk and wife Anna Brings White. Public Domain.

Native American Catholics focus of Knights of Columbus documentary

May 17, 2021

By CNA Staff

The historical and contemporary witness of Native American Catholics are the subject of a Knights of Columbus-produced documentary set for... Read more

Italian poet Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321) in a detail from a painting by Domenico di Michelino. Public domain.

Pope Francis: revisit the ‘Divine Comedy’ in Dante’s anniversary year

Oct 12, 2020

Pope Francis said Saturday that the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri should inspire people to rediscover the... Read more

Pope Francis visits Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9, 2015.

How popes have addressed the conquest of the Americas

Mar 29, 2019

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico this week wrote to Pope Francis and the King of Spain, Felipe VI,... Read more

The University of Notre Dame's Main Building, which houses the murals which will soon be "covered by woven material consistent with the décor".

Notre Dame to cover prominent Columbus murals

Jan 21, 2019

A series of murals depicting Christopher Columbus' life and exploration displayed at the University of Notre Dame will be covered... Read more

Why a famous social justice priest opposed birth control

Dec 21, 2018

By Kevin J. Jones

During the early cultural battles over birth control in 1920s America, social thinker Monsignor John A. Ryan brought a unique... Read more

World War I.

After 100 years, US Catholicism still bears the stamp of World War I

Nov 11, 2018

By Kevin J. Jones

A century after the close of World War I, the war has faded from living memory. But its effects endure.  Read more

Celtic cross.

Did Irish saints perform abortions? Don’t believe it, scholars say

Apr 28, 2018

By Kevin J. Jones

Faulty history, bad moral analysis and dubious voting advice are behind claims that several cherished Irish saints were involved in... Read more

Wild West Ghost Town.

Nuns, guns and the Wild West: the extraordinary tale of Sr. Blandina

Jan 25, 2018

By Mary Farrow

Billy the Kid, a notorious bank and stage-coach robber of the Wild West, met his match in the most unlikely... Read more

Scholars decode one of the last fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Jan 22, 2018

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are among the oldest extant biblical manuscripts, have been a topic of interest since they... Read more

Representation of the Salem witch trials, lithograph from 1892.

Was the last 'witch' of Boston actually a Catholic martyr?

Oct 29, 2017

By Mary Farrow

The last person hanged for witchcraft in Boston could be considered a Catholic martyr.  Read more

Christopher Columbus.

Don't rush to judge Columbus, anthropologist encourages

Oct 9, 2017

By Kevin J. Jones

The controversies surrounding Christopher Columbus are sometimes misplaced and should not overshadow Columbus’ Christian motives in his voyages,  a scholar... Read more

Detail from Giovanni Lanfranco's Saint Luke Healing the Dropsical Child (c. 1625)

Faith, science, beauty: what doctors can learn from Catholic art

Sep 19, 2017

By Kevin J. Jones

The intersection of art, medicine, and faith in the Catholic tradition has a lot to teach today, especially if you’re... Read more

A Syriac manuscript from the Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai.

This priest preserves Iraqi culture found in historic manuscripts

Aug 9, 2017

By Hannah Brockhaus

As Iraq and surrounding areas face the destruction of many of the region’s archaeological treasures, one priest and his fellow... Read more