Books Archives

Widow of Navy SEAL tells story of grief, acceptance, and faith in God

Jul 4, 2020

Char Fontan Westfall of northern St. Johns County, whose Navy SEAL husband was killed in a scene depicted in the movie “Lone Survivor,” has written a book, “A Beautiful Tragedy,” about his death 15 years ago.

By Matt Soergel, The Florida Times-Union

Author: Rhode Island founder’s religious liberty views speak to Catholics

Jun 28, 2020

It may require more effort than in the past to observe the U.S. bishops’ annual Religious Freedom Week, ending June 29, with fewer days than the original two-week Fortnight for Freedom window and, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the closure of churches, or strict limits on Mass attendance, put in place either by dioceses or governments.

By Mark Pattison

World has rich tradition of elucidating virtues, principles for way to live

Jun 28, 2020

For those who think lists of virtues started with William Bennett’s The Book of Virtues in 1993 and ended when word got out 10 years later of Bennett’s enormous gambling losses, there is a rich tradition of elucidating principles to live by that is so long-standing it predates the birth of Christ.

By Mark Pattison

Corrected history: Authors debunk myths tied to church controversies

Jun 22, 2020

Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikon — two Polish journalists — wanted to debunk some of the myths and fill in the gaps with their illustrated book, “Vatican Secret Archives: Unknown Pages of Church History,” which was published in English by Ignatius Press.

By Carol Glatz

Is a 16th century friar the ‘inventor’ of papal history?

Jun 10, 2020

Many of the fundamental historical questions surrounding the Protestant Reformation remain open, and one little-known 16th century Italian scholar might be a key to finding answers. Onofrio Panvinio was an Augustinian friar who traveled across Italy to search out the documentation surrounding the history of the papacy.

By Charles Collins