Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Michelle Arnold

Home
Catholic

Apologetics

Select a Category Apologetics News Personal Popular Culture Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2024 May 2024 February 2024 December 2023 July 2023 December 2022 October 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 June 2021 April 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 December 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015

December 2022

December 29, 2022

The Choice Is Mary’s

Years ago, at Advent, I wrote an essay for Catholic Answers on St. Matthew's account...

October 2022

October 01, 2022

Catholic Answers and the Trouble with Yoga

In a recent Dark Devotional for Sick Pilgrim, I commented on how Catholic Answers, where...

June 2022

June 28, 2022

Pro-Lifers and the Case of the Invisible Woman

I really don't have the mental energy right now to dive deep into the cluster—,...

May 2022

May 22, 2022

How to Bring Catholics Back to Mass

A friend, I'll call him Chad,* once told me how his sister, Kayla, finally made...

April 2022

April 20, 2022

Conversions and Catholic Sola Scriptura

Perhaps the most poignant conversion story I've read was that of Rabbi Israel Zolli (1881–1956),...

March 2022

March 12, 2022

Apologetics Mistakes and Circling the Memory Hole

When the rapper Clifford Harris Jr. (also known as T.I.) told the world during a...

March 05, 2022

A Lapsed Catholic’s Guide to Observing Lent

"Want to go with me to confession?" My roommate routinely asks me this question, knowing...

November 2021

November 04, 2021

The Virgin and the Philosophers

A few years ago, the Church marked the fiftieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae, Paul VI's...

October 2021

October 22, 2021

Praying for Pity’s Sake

After twenty years of navigating discussions with strangers online, a dozen of those years spent...

September 2021

September 03, 2021

The Time I Had a D&C

Catholic Answers always provided health insurance for full-time employees, but for many years I could...

June 2021

June 10, 2021

Priests Should Mind Their Own Business

A couple of months ago, I examined the case of a lay moral theologian who...

April 2021

April 29, 2021

Kill the Cat Apologetics

I like to say that I became a professional Catholic apologist by "on the job...

April 28, 2021

St. Gianna and the Freedom of Choice

Today is the feast of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician who died of...

April 19, 2021

Catholic “Sexperts” Should Mind Their Own Business

Imagine, if you will, that you are a woman in her seventies, happily married for...

January 2021

January 28, 2021

Apologies of a Pro-Choice, Pro-Life Catholic

No, I'm not going to offer expressions of remorse for outing myself in Why I'm...

January 27, 2021

In Defense of Preferred Pronouns

About a week ago, Joseph Strickland, the bishop of Tyler, Texas, and an active tweeter,...

December 2020

December 14, 2020

To Whom Would Jesus Deny Communion?

Joe Biden is the second Catholic to be elected President of the United States, a...

December 11, 2020

What Mary Knew Is Her Own Business

Welcome to Advent, that time of year when Christians ponder the deep mysteries of the...

November 2020

November 25, 2020

Scandal In an Age of Scandal

I bit back a smile when I saw a new essay pop up on Catholic...

November 19, 2020

Reject Nothing That’s True

When I was preparing to write a booklet for Catholic Answers on New Age beliefs...

November 07, 2020

“Are You Still Catholic?”

To say that my transition from a staff apologist at Catholic Answers to a freelance...

November 04, 2020

Why I’m a Pro-Choice, Pro-Life Catholic

A recurring topic on "Catholic Answers Live," a radio show produced by my former employer...

October 2020

October 26, 2020

Coming Out as “Liberal”

When I was preparing to blog again for Patheos, I remembered one of the social...

August 2020

August 25, 2020

A Catholic Apologist’s Guide to Voting as a Catholic

Every two years for the last sixteen years the calls, letters, and emails would start...

August 18, 2020

“Someone Named Michelle Arnold”

"What's it like, being a female Catholic apologist in a field dominated by men?" *looks...

July 2015

July 07, 2015

One Size May Not Fit All

Do you remember when you were a kid, putting together your first "grown-up" puzzle? All...

July 06, 2015

St. Maria Goretti: The Girl Who Lived

Every year around this time, I brace myself for the onslaught of social media posts...

June 2015

June 03, 2015

God Only Knows If I Stay Catholic

Patheos's Catholic bloggers are currently holding a symposium on Why I Am NOT Leaving the...

May 2015

May 19, 2015

One Day in the Life of an Apologist

Have you ever wondered why it can sometimes be so much easier to find common...

May 04, 2015

Baptism “Delayed” Is Not Baptism “Denied”

When I was about 15 or 16, I noticed a small black-and-white advertisement in the...