In our thirty-two years of publication, there have been only a few times that we have put aside our plans and produced a special edition of our magazine. Two examples that stand out for me are the edition we wrote to mark the passing of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and our recent edition marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. More »

From the moment Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected pope on October 28, 1958, he surprised people. The surprises began with his first act as pope, when he took the name John, a name no pope had borne since the fifteenth century. More »

In April of 2005, cardinals from around the world flew to Rome to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II, who had died on April 2. As they arrived, they found the pontiff’s body lying in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica—something completely expected. They also found major news networks from around the world carrying twenty-four-hour live coverage of the events for several days. Again, this was no surprise. More »

From the beginning of his pontificate eight months ago, Pope Francis has received a lot of attention for his unique approach. We saw him enthusiastically welcome the mob that greeted his wayward car in Rio de Janeiro at the start of his World Youth Day visit. More »

You go to Mass one day, and something in the Gospel makes you sit up and take notice. Maybe it makes you want to grow in a spirit of thankfulness or to examine a relationship. By the end of the liturgy, though, you can’t remember the readings, let alone your insight. You know something special happened, but you can’t recall what it was. More »