As we begin a new year, in the January/February 2025 issue, our Lead story asks the question: What could the Trump presidential victory mean, not only for the US but for Catholics and the Church? Then, ITV trains a spotlight on ten people who have, in different ways, labored with joy for the Kingdom in the midst of a turbulent and often heart-breaking year — our “Top Ten of 2024.” Also, in the wake of new Vatican guidelines for assessing “supernatural phenomena,” Professor Christine Mugridge takes us to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she interviews the Pope’s man there on its spiritual phenomena. And renowned scholar Anthony Esolen, Ph.D., tells us what it actually means when Jesus says, “I am the Way.”
LEAD STORY
ROUNDTABLE/ What the Trump Win Might Mean by ITV staff/CNS
ROUNDTABLE/What Trump Must Understand About China by Aurelio Porfiri
ROUNDTABLE/ Trump’s War on the Administrative State Matters for Catholics by Darrick Taylor
ROUNDTABLE/Trump’s Economic Proposals and Catholic Social Teaching by Michael D. Greaney
ROUNDTABLE/Should Catholics Support the President-Elect? by Regis Martin
NEWS
SPECIAL: TOP TEN PEOPLE OF 2024
Despite a difficult year, “Behold, I make all things new”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo: Fighting Western imperialism–cultural and financial
Bishop Thomas Paprocki: The “Holy Goalie” speaks out for Truth
Bishop Rolando Álvarez: Defending the Church against government persecution
Sr. Paula Kwandao Phonprasertruska: Fighting human trafficking in Asia
Harrison Butker: Fearlessly champions Catholic ideals in the popular culture
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: A touchstone in troubling times
Archbishop Stephen Mulla: Bringing Jesus to a nation torn by war and corruption
Eduardo Verastegui: Actor/producer/presidential candidate knows “God is the Fire”
Tracey Rowland, Ph.D.: Theologian and Benedict XVI expert “knows how the battle ends”
Bishop Mounir Khairallah: Lebanon can only be healed by forgiveness
CULTURE
INTERVIEW/New cardinal of Palestinian descent says Gaza “Borders on horror” by Franca Giansoldati (Il Messagero)
REFLECTION/The Day Benedict XVI Died by Anna Artymiak
ARTS/World-renowned composers, musicians perform Concert for the Poor by Robert Moynihan
INTERVIEW/Archbishop Aldo Cavalli on “the Holy Spirit at work in Medjugorje” by Christine Mugridge
FOOTSTEPS ON THE WAY/ Pilgrimage in Rome, Then and Now by ITV Staff/CNA
SCRIPTURE/I am the Way by Anthony Esolen
SPIRITUALITY BEHIND BARS/A Meditation on Recidivism by Marcellus Roberts
URBI ET ORBI: CATHOLICISM AND ORTHODOXY
Icon/The Creed: Baptism by Robert Wiesner
East-West Watch/The Orthodox and the Catholic Synod on Synodality’s Final Document by Peter Anderson
News from the East/ Pope adds Assyrian saint; Russia bans Catholic websites; Orthodoxy “under threat” in Ukraine; India’s Syro-Malabar church troubles deepen by Matthew Trojacek
FEATURES
Tradition and Beauty/ Liturgical Music and the Reign of Paul VI by Aurelio Porfiri
Art/Venice’s Redentore Church opens its “gardens” to the public by Lucy Gordan
Lord of the World/“His Domination Was Complete” by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson
Vatican Watch/A day-by-day chronicle of Vatican events: October, November and December 2024 by Matthew Trojacek
Food for Thought/ Planning a Pilgrimage to Italy for the Holy Year Jubilee by Mother Martha

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