The Twelve Apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, drew thousands to the Christian faith within a matter of hours. But spectacular as their successes were, their first harvest of converts could not compare to the astonishing yield in Mexico in the 1530s, when somewhere between nine and ten million converts entered the Church within a few years.

"Here we touch on something important," said Joseph Ratzinger, concluding an address in 1990:

A great divide in approaches to life is whether we see God's Providence as really in charge. Perhaps the main way we reject it is regarding timing.

Apologies, but I am going to mention a television show, not to praise it or blame it, but simply because it portrays an interesting, troubling character.

We all need to face it at some time, perhaps even many times. "Why did God let this happen?" 

We've gathered here some initial reactions to the death of Benedict XVI this past weekend by various The Catholic Thing collaborators and friends.

With the sudden death of Cardinal George Pell, the Church has lost the earthly company of a wise, loving, joyful, and courageous shepherd.

Connecting the dots between the killing of Catholic parliamentarian Sir David Amess and the reception of ex-Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali into the Catholic Church.

A Kentucky archbishop still remembers when a little, 6-year-old girl asked him, "Why was my brother born with autism?"

"We cannot divorce ourselves from the interpersonal network into which God has created us," says Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, "if we recognize that, all the better: you are in a community, so you better find the right one."