Blessed Michael McGivney’s love for baseball was part of his mission to build faith, family and community — a legacy carried on by the Knights of Columbus today. Baseball is a game known for its superstitions — and as the MLB playoffs begin Oct. 1, players will certainly be searching for an extra edge to beat their opponents en route to World Series glory. Yet superstition is a “deviation” from true worship of God. However, invoking heavenly intercession is not. But who should Catholic ballplayers turn to for help during the stressful playoff push? As of today, there is no official patron saint of baseball. St. Rita is often cited, not so much for her athletic prowess or love for the national pastime (since the 15th-century nun lived several hundred years before the game’s invention), but ...

Q. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), purchasers are technically allowed to copy the contents of physical media that they’ve purchased (such as a music CD, video game disc, etc.) to another platform (such as your computer hard drive) provided they do not send the files out to people, sell bootleg copies, etc. But if the content is locked behind Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, then it is (ordinarily) illegal to break or circumvent that lock, even for purely private use. So, if you own a music CD, which is not locked, you can legally copy the music from your CD to your computer. But since most film DVDs are locked, it is illegal to break or circumvent the lock, even if your intention is to use the materials for purely private enjoyment. It is my understandi...

The most controversial issues may be off the agenda of next month’s Synod on Synodality assembly in Rome. But make no mistake about it: The Oct. 2-27 gathering could still lead to several big changes that impact daily life in the Catholic Church. Delegates to the synod, which will conclude a four-year global synod process that’s focused on how to increase participation in the Catholic Church, will likely discuss and possibly approve proposals touching on everything from women in leadership positions to the ability of national bishops’ conferences to make doctrinal decisions.  The potential for impactful changes remains even after Pope Francis decided to transfer contentious topics — such as the possibility of women deacons and the discernment of controversial doctrinal issues (includi...

Glemkowski: Why the National Eucharistic Congress worked Skip to content For a lot of U.S. Catholics, the National Eucharistic Congress this July was a milestone event — a national moment for the Church, which, for many, far exceeded their expectations. Tim Glemkowski at the National Eucharistic Congress. Credit: Giovanni Chilelli/Pillar Media. Tim Glemkowski, the lay man who led the Eucharistic Congress team, has faced a lot of questions since the Congress ended. But most of them boil down to just one idea: Why did the National Eucharistic Congress work? Glemkowski gets some version of that question just about every day. To answer it for The Pillar, Glemkowski put pen to paper, for a thorough look at what made the National Eucharistic Congress a different kind of Catholic gathering. Glemk...

On Sept. 8, 1896, St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote an account of a dream she had earlier that year in which she received a “visit” from a Carmelite precursor, Blessed Anne of Jesus, the founder of the Carmelite Order in France, who was beatified today in Belgium by Pope Francis. Thérèse’s account provides a wonderful introduction to Anne and her personality and mission. Thérèse began: O Jesus, my Beloved, who could express the tenderness and sweetness with which you are guiding my soul! It pleases You to cause the rays of Your grace to shine through even in the midst of the darkest storm! This “darkest storm” was an intense trial of faith Thérèse had been undergoing since the day following Easter Sunday of that year, a trial that would continue to test her fortitude as she suffered incurable t...