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Journalist and author George Neumayr, who died of malaria while reporting from Ivory Coast, Africa, is seen here in photos posted on his Twitter account earlier this month. (Images: Twitter) The sad and shocking news broke this morning on social media that journalist and editor George Neumayr died of malaria while in Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (often referred to as Ivory Coast) in West Africa, where he had been visiting and reporting for The American Spectator. The Lepanto Institute tweeted: Regarding the death of @george_neumayr, here is what we know from CONFIRMED sources:1) George was sick seven days ago.2) George steadfastly refused to go to the hospital.3) The US Consulate tested his body and confirmed that he tested positive for malaria. Neumayr, who was in his late fifties, was my pr...

By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Jan 18, 2023 Sometime in my impressionable adolescent years, I saw a film clip from the Vatican, showing the procession of bishops entering a session (the opening session, maybe?) of Vatican II. My memory is of a solemn, stately march; I marveled at the precision with which it must have been organized. Now that I am older—closing in on the age when bishops are obliged to retire—I realize that my youthful memory has played tricks on me. I have watched bishops enter churches in procession on many important occasions, including the sad events at the Vatican in the past few weeks. These processions are certainly solemn. They may be stately. But precise? No. Soldiers march in precise formation. Marching bands stay in stride. Bishops do not...

In his book, Archbishop Gänswein also addressed the fact that Cardinal Schönborn and Cardinal Ratzinger were on a first-name basis. ROME — Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn on Wednesday confirmed he was the person who encouraged Joseph Ratzinger to accept the conclave’s decision — if elected — to become the successor to Pope John Paul II as supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church. Benedict’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, revealed Cardinal Schönborn’s identity in his book titled Nothing but the Truth (“Nient’altro che la verita”), which was published in Italy last week. CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported that Cardinal Schönborn on Jan. 18 confirmed Archbishop Gänswein’s assertion that Cardinal Schönborn had written Cardinal Ratzinger “a little lett...

Will the defense of marriage be the hill on which we Catholics die? Of course, that rather depends on how willing we are to stake everything upon a truth that, however much we believe it to be grounded in divine revelation, is nevertheless rejected by almost everyone else, including great numbers of our fellow Catholics. Which would be Joe Biden Catholics, wouldn’t it? Countless cafeteria Catholics, as it were, whose numbers, to judge by current approval ratings, appear to be legion. Are we prepared to stand against these people for the sake of a mere marital bond? Do we really believe, in other words, the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the union of one man and one woman? That it constitutes a sacrament indissoluble in the sight of God? And will we, in mounting its defense, be ...

Around 28% of Poland’s Catholics attended Mass in 2021, according to the latest official statistics. The new figures were said to indicate a “dramatic fall” in church attendance in one of Europe’s most Catholic countries. So, what does the new data say? How do researchers interpret it? And what is the Church doing in response to the decline? The Pillar takes a look. What the figures say On Jan. 13, the Institute for Catholic Church Statistics (ISKK) released its 2021 “Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae in Polonia,” a yearly numerical overview of Poland’s Catholic Church. Since 1980, the institute has reported the percentage of “dominicantes” (Sunday Mass-goers) and “communicantes” (recipients of Holy Communion) out of the total number of baptized Catholics who are able to fulfill the obligati...

If low-church Anglican evangelicals were active in the whole naming-saints thing, you know that the process would already be in motion to honor Queen Elizabeth II. The quiet dignity of her Christian faith was at the heart of her long life of service. This brings us to what I would argue is a valid religion-angle story linked to “Spare,” the tell-all confessional memoir Prince Harry has released from the media-friendly alternative palace that he is creating with Meghan Markle here in America. Here is the basic question: In what church will Harry and Meghan raise their children? This points, of course, to broader questions about the seismic changes inside England’s Royal Family after the passing of Elizabeth the Great. Yes, some of these questions are linked to the complex ecumenical history...

Hey everybody, Today is the feast of St. Anthony the Great, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. The saint we celebrate today is remembered throughout the Church as the “father of monasticism,” or the “father of all monks,” — and really, he deserves that title. But Anthony is really the reluctant father of those monks, and that’s worth noting. Here’s what happened: Anthony was born in the third century, to a wealthy family of Christians in southern Egypt. When he was 20, his parents died suddenly, leaving Anthony to care for his young sister. But soon after, Anthony was attending the Divine Liturgy, when he heard these words read from the Gospel: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” They struck the young man ...

So-called deaths of despair such as from suicide or alcohol abuse have been skyrocketing for middle-aged white Americans. It’s been blamed on various phenomenon, including opioid abuse. But a new research paper finds a different culprit — declining religious practice. The working paper, from Tyler Giles of Wellesley College, Daniel Hungerman of the University of Notre Dame, and Tamar Oostrom of The Ohio State University, looked at the relationship between religiosity and mortality from deaths of despair. The paper was circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors noted that many measures of religious adherence began to decline in the late 1980s. They find that the large decline in religious practice was driven by the group experiencing the subsequent increases in mort...

PARIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – French nun Sister Andre, the world’s oldest person, passed away at 118 in France, her retirement home told Reuters on Tuesday. Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, had survived COVID last year. She was born on Feb. 11, 1904, and was the world’s oldest living person according to the Gerontology Research Group’s (GRG) World Supercentenarian Rankings List. Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro Editing by Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Want an insider travel tip perfect for culture vultures? The North American Reciprocal Museum Association, or NARM, is a network of 1,261 different art museums, botanical gardens, hands-on children’s museums, zoos, planetariums and historical sites located all across the US and even some international spots. The basic premise is that you purchase a membership at a museum or site near you, and that membership then earns you free entry into every other facility in the network. This is great for planning an economical outing on your vacation—and is exceptionally useful for road trips where you might want to stop for an hour but not pay through the teeth for a brief but rewarding experience. Here’s everything you need to know about the NARM card. Is there actually a NARM card? No. Your card is...

Today in Papal History marks the official end of the Avignon Papacy – a 70-year exile in the 14th Century where the Successors of Peter holed up in the French enclave and was more or less beholden to the French crown during that time – as Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome. The pontiff retaking his rightful place in the Eternal City was thanks in no small part to a rather rousing letter written to him by the great St. Catherine of Siena, excerpted below: Up, to give your life for Christ! Isn’t our body the only thing we have?[9] Why not give your life a thousand times, if necessary, for God’s honor and the salvation of his creatures? That is what he did, and you, his vicar, ought to be carrying on his work. It is to be expected that as long as you are his vicar you will foll...

Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Part one is available here. At its root, anthropology considers what human beings are and how they have interacted with one another and the world around them over time. While many think of anthropology as a secular study of cultures from ancient to modern day, I propose that there is also a Christian anthropology, one that considers who and what the human person is based on God’s revelation in His word and through our bodies. Indeed, our body is a revelation from God, and by and through it He teaches us. This essay (consisting of both today’s and yesterday’s posts) is not a complete discourse on the topic. Rather, I selected certain teachings rooted in Scripture and the nature of our bodies that apply particularly well to moral issues of our d...