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September 2026

September 21, 2026

AI, the Pope, and the Case for Responsible Regulation

Balancing AI Innovation With Human Responsibility Once again, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its way...

August 2026

August 12, 2026

Tolkien Said He Did Not Like Or Write Allegories

J.R.R. Tolkien had a complex relationship with the use of allegory. He did not like...

June 2026

June 01, 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s Call To Stewardship Through Tolkien’s Vision

Like many others, I was surprised to find that the most recent papal encyclical, Magnifica...

November 2025

November 24, 2025

The Prophetic Warning Of Tolkien’s Bovadium Fragments

A key feature in J.R.R. Tolkien's works is his environmentalism. He saw the degradation of...

June 2025

June 04, 2025

The Conditional Nature of Judgment: Insights From Jonah

J.R.R. Tolkien, who worked on a translation of the book of Jonah for the Jerusalem...

February 2025

February 21, 2025

The Pitfalls of Simplistic Arguments in Apologetics

A problem found in many religious traditions lies in the way some of their members...

February 14, 2025

Mercy: A Key Component In Achieving True Justice

Mercy and justice go together. Mercy makes no sense without justice, because it is through...

September 2024

September 03, 2024

PRS* XVI The Rings Of Power

I’ve been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works for most of my life....

April 2024

April 19, 2024

Frodo And Grace

Tolkien, examining what happened to Frodo, and how he failed in his mission, said that...

April 05, 2024

Tolkien, Gods And Angels

One of the key elements which connects J.R.R. Tolkien’s personal faith with his myths is...

February 2024

February 08, 2024

What Separates Tolkien From So-Called Traditionalists

J.R.R. Tolkien’s background such as having a priest, Fr. Morgan, as his guardian after his...

December 2023

December 27, 2023

What Does The Sign Of Jonah Indicate About Mercy?

The book of Jonah demonstrates the difference between human conceptions of justice and how it...

December 05, 2023

Tolkien And War: Would Tolkien Be Horrified In The Way His Fans Approach His Works?

War is hell. While it might sometimes be unavoidable, it should never be glorified. It...

July 2023

July 27, 2023

Tolkien On Chivalry And War

Many Tolkien enthusiasts, mostly as a result of their interest in Middle Earth, misunderstand Tolkien’s...

December 2021

December 09, 2021

The Farce Of Originalism

Two different, but similar, temptations turn us away from the needs of the present moment....

November 2021

November 17, 2021

The Church, The Field Hospital For The Sick

The church is full of the spiritually sick and infirm, that is, sinners. As Pope...

November 16, 2021

Tolkien, The Quendi, And Mary: How To Understand Unfallen Beings In A Fallen World

Tolkien, like his friend C.S. Lewis, contemplated the notion of “unfallen” beings living in a...

September 2021

September 29, 2021

Tolkien And Theodicy (Dealing With The Problem Of Evil)

The phenomenon of evil raises many questions, especially in relation to how God can be...

September 22, 2021

Tolkien, Fate And Free Will

We are contingent beings; this is why, though we have free will, our will has...

September 15, 2021

Tolkien And The Way To Overcome Evil

Those who work for and promote the good, those who seek justice in the world,...

September 29, 2020

Good, Evil And Neutral Beauty

St. Basil the Great tells us to glorify God as the “Master Craftsman,” for he...

June 2020

June 03, 2020

Tolkien, Forgiveness And Salvation

JR.R. Tolkien, in his letters, talks about the way one of his readers thought Frodo...

February 2020

February 07, 2020

Tolkien, Myth, And The Flexibility of Catholic Thought

J.R.R. Tolkien, believing England did not possess a great myth of its own, wanted to...

October 2019

October 25, 2019

Horror, Halloween and the Gospel

In art, either as creators or participants, we are helped to remember some of the...

July 2019

July 10, 2019

Tolkien Against Racism

Reading Tolkien’s stories, it is easy to pick up the fact that the various races...

May 2019

May 14, 2019

Tolkien and the Alt-Right Orcs: Tolkien’s Forewarning and Rejection of the New Ultranationalism

Many fans of J.R.R. Tolkien like to use his works to promote war. Others, likewise,...

July 2018

July 26, 2018

The Symphonic Harmony Of The Eschaton

Tolkien in the opening section of The Silmarillion, the Ainulindalë, presents an explanation for evil...

April 2018

April 12, 2018

Tolkien, Pluralism and the Church

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, with his mythopoetic style, created a world filled...

December 2017

December 14, 2017

When We Trip And Fall In The Pilgrimage Of Life, God Is There Ready To Help

One of the normative phases of spiritual development is found when a spiritual pilgrim goes...

July 2017

July 02, 2017

A Time to Live and a Time to Die

The sad case surrounding baby Charlie Gard has led the Vatican to issue a statement...

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