The Moynihan Letters

    Letter #6, 2026, Monday, February 16: Bishop Athanasius Schneider          I will be talking live with Bishop Athanasius Schneider in a podcast on YouTube this morning, at 11 am Eastern time. You may join the podcast live at this link.     We will be discussing his life and work, and present issues in the Church.     One [...]

    The late John Allen. He died this morning at the age of 61. (Photo Crux.com)     "He impressed upon me, and on all of his colleagues, the absolute importance of fairness and balance, which he considered essential to journalism." Clair Giangravè, a correspondent for Religion News Service who was mentored by the late John Allen, speaking [...]

    Dear Friends,     I invite you to support the Moynihan Letters, so they may continue to be offered freely to readers around the world.    — Dr. Robert Moynihan Support the Moynihan Letters     Letter #4, 2026, Tuesday, January 13: The Roche Letter     Another bombshell.     Earlier today, something important was unexpectedly published: the photographed text [...]

    Dear Friends,     For more than two decades, I’ve been sending The Moynihan Letters without charge, and I intend to keep them freely available. As the new year begins, I am faced once again with the annual costs of producing and sending the letters to all my readers — about $5,000 in total. If you enjoy [...]

    Pope Leo, 70, will celebrate three major public liturgies in the next few weeks, leading up to Lent. Below, the list...     Note:     If you would like to subscribe to this letter, or add a friend as a subscriber, you may do so here.     If you would like to make a donation to the work of [...]

    Pope Leo, 70, reads a text to open the Extraordinary Consistory of cardinals that began in Rome yesterday and concludes today. The Pope, eight months after his election on May 8, 2025, has asked the cardinals to advise him on how to face some of the pressing issues facing the Church and society.     Note: If [...]

    Pope Leo XIV this afternoon in Turkey, with Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The two signed a joint declaration (full text below)     Pope Leo today spent his 3rd day in Turkey, after visiting yesterday the site of the Council of Nicaea, held 1,700 years ago in 325 A.D.     This was his schedule today:     (1) 8:45 [...]

    Pope Leo XIV this afternoon in Turkey at the site of the Council of Nicaea, held 1,700 years ago in 325 A.D. It was the 1st Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church, and it debated and defined the true divinity of Jesus Christ, which had been contested by a priest, Arius, and his [...]

    Professor John M. Rist. The brilliant British Catholic historian emailed me about my letter on the "filioque" question and proposed that I read his essay on the role of St. Athanasius at the 1st Ecumenical Council of Nicaea... I decided to send his paper out to you. This is the last of three parts... sent [...]

    Pope Leo XIV this morning as he left Rome on a flight to Ankara, Turkey — the first foreign trip of his pontificate. Behind him stands his spokesman, Press Office Director Matteo Bruni.     Below, the Pope receives a pumpkin pie, baked by American Vaticanists living in Rome: Elise Allen and Cindy Woodward     Letter #86, 2025, [...]