CNA Columns

Confessional.

Confession, Conclaves, and Corona

CNA Editor's Desk

Apr 2, 2020

By CNA Staff

On this week's episode of the podcast, Catholic News Agency editors JD Flynn and Ed Condon discuss some of the... Read more

Photo courtesy Fr. Dave Pivonka.

White Ribbons: 'I Will Never Forget You'

Guest Columnist

Mar 31, 2020

By Father Dave Pivonka, TOR

On the afternoon of March 6, I walked around the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville, saying goodbye to students... Read more

Princeton Professor Robert George plays the banjo.

Listen at Your Leisure

CNA Newsroom

Mar 30, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown

We hear from a couple in Ohio who write fiction; Princeton professor Robbie George talks about why he plays the... Read more

A Dutch church closed because of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

What will the Church look like after the pandemic ends?

CNA Editor's Desk

Mar 27, 2020

By CNA Staff

Editors JD Flynn and Ed Condon discuss many things on this episode of the podcast, including the week’s most important... Read more

Building Community in a Pandemic

Russell Shaw

Mar 26, 2020

By Russell Shaw

So much has been said and written about the novel coronavirus that if words could stem a pandemic, we would... Read more

A woman sits alone in a Catholic church.

Coronavirus Comes to America

CNA Newsroom

Mar 24, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown

We talk with priests who are navigating Mass cancellations; a homeless shelter in Washington D.C. that continues its life-saving ministry... Read more

Pope Francis addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Nov. 25, 2014 -

Will religious freedom be safeguarded in Europe?

A Vatican Observer

Mar 24, 2020

By Andrea Gagliarducci

Despite major successes, the EU let the office of the Special Envoy for the promotion of Religious Freedom and Belief... Read more

A red cross ambulance passes in front of the Vatican as Italy prepares for the coronavirus, March 9, 2020.

Italy in the time of coronavirus

CNA Newsroom

Mar 23, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown,Hannah Brockhaus

Rome correspondents Hannah Brockhaus and Courtney Mares share personal essays of their experience living under lockdown in Rome. A former... Read more

Fr. David Burgard participates in "Priests in the Park."

Social distance...from our desks

CNA Editor's Desk

Mar 19, 2020

By CNA Staff

From a safe social distance— 1,493 miles to be exact— editors JD Flynn and Ed Condon discuss the week’s most important Catholic... Read more

The Supreme Court of the United States.

Abortion Decision: Waiting on the Court

Russell Shaw

Mar 17, 2020

By Russell Shaw

For all practical purposes or at least most, the Supreme Court likely has already decided the most important abortion-related case... Read more

Vatican City flag from the view of the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, Italy on March 12, 2015 -

What does Pope Francis’s reform of the Vatican judicial system mean?

A Vatican Observer

Mar 17, 2020

By Andrea Gagliarducci

Pope Francis' reform of the Vatican City State judicial system is mostly insider stuff. A look under the hood of... Read more

Jeff Schinstock and his daughter, Regina Maria. Photo courtesy of Jeff Schinstock.

The Church and disabled Catholics (Part 2)

CNA Newsroom

Mar 16, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown

Jeff Schinstock talks about his daughter, Regina Maria, who has severe autism. The director of the National Catholic Partnership on... Read more

Cardinal George Pell arrives at Melbourne County Court on February 27, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.

Cardinal George Pell has had his day in court

CNA Editor's Desk

Mar 12, 2020

By CNA Staff

On this episode of the podcast, JD Flynn and Ed Condon discuss and debate the week’s Catholic news, including updates... Read more

The Apostolic Palace -

Pope Francis back and forth reform: the centralized personnel office

A Vatican Observer

Mar 10, 2020

By Andrea Gagliarducci

It turns out, a motu proprio by Pope Francis will be needed after all, to make effective the General Directorate for Personnel... Read more

Pope Francis with Peter Lombardi at the General Audience in St. Peter's Square, March 28, 2018.

The Church and disabled Catholics (Part 1)

CNA Newsroom

Mar 9, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown

A Catholic priest shares about his diagnosis of autism. Then, we ask how the Catholic Church can better serve Catholics... Read more

Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass with First Communions in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Rakovsky, Bulgaria on May 6, 2019. (

CNA Editor's Desk: This is not our coronavirus episode

CNA Editor's Desk

Mar 5, 2020

By CNA Staff

JD Flynn, Ed Condon, and Carl Bunderson discuss and debate the week's top stories. Topics include coronavirus and the reception... Read more

A session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva -

The Holy See slams UN Report on religious freedom

A Vatican Observer

Mar 4, 2020

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The Holy See has attacked the latest UN report on religious freedom. Decrying particularly the document's many references to gender... Read more

Burger King's Impossible Whopper.

Where's the Beef?

CNA Newsroom

Mar 2, 2020

By Kate Olivera,Jonah McKeown

D.C. correspondents Matt Hadro and Christine Rousselle taste test the Impossible Whopper at Burger King, and talk about the ethics... Read more

Pope Pius XII -

Will Pius XII's archives shed light on origins of Vatican Ostpolitik?

A Vatican Observer

Mar 2, 2020

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The opening of the archives on Pius XII’s pontificate could show that the Vatican's so-called Ostpolitik began much earlier than... Read more

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane of Lesotho at the United Nations.

The Curious Case of Canon 1090

CNA Editor's Desk

Feb 28, 2020

By CNA Staff

Listen to this week's episode of the podcast by clicking below, or by searching for it on your favorite podcast... Read more