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National Catholic Register

Odysseus, Washington, Napoleon and Heroes in an Unheroic Age

L to R: Ditlev Blunck, ‘Odysseus on the Island of Calypso’; Édouard Detaille, ‘Napoleon in 1806’; George Washington Lansdowne portrait (1796) by Gilbert Stuart

COMMENTARY: It is not quite true that we live in a post-heroic age but certainly true that our cynical modern era has real issues with heroism, whether sacred or profane.

Summer Advice From Pope Leo XIV: Don’t Forget the Less Fortunate

Pope Leo speaks with a couple at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the Vatican on Sept. 21, 2025.

‘Let us think of the privilege we have when we support the poor,’ Pope Leo said, adding the importance of supporting the elderly and others who are sick and living through serious circumstances.

Should Exorcists Step Into the Spotlight?

Renata Sedmakova
‘The Temptation of Jesus,’ 19th-century fresco, St. George’s Church, Antwerp, Belgium

As exorcists attract millions of online viewers, priests and Church leaders weigh the benefits and dangers of speaking publicly about the ministry.

Maryland Parish Pays Off Public School Lunch Debt for Entire County

The Social Justice Ministry of St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Frederick, Maryland, attends a weekend food-bagging session for Yellow Springs Elementary School in 2026.

A Maryland Catholic parish paid off $11,800 in school lunch debt in Frederick County, expanding a ministry that has provided weekend meals to children since 2014.

Vatican Denies Marko Rupnik Has Been Acquitted

Father Marko Rupnik, in an interview with EWTN in 2020

The Holy See said the canonical criminal trial remains open and judges are continuing to review evidence in the case involving the former Jesuit accused of sexual and psychological abuse.