Born in Spain, Antonio Maria Claret y Clarà worked as a weaver in Barcelona while discerning his vocation. He thought about joining the Carthusians, but opted instead for the diocesan priesthood. He was ordained in 1835. Still feeling an attraction toward the rekligious life, he spent a short time with the Jesuits before returning to parish work. In 1849, he founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, better known as the Claretians, to evangelize... Read more

Jindřich Šimon Baar was a Czech Catholic priest and writer, realist, author of the so-called country prose. He joined the Czech Catholic modern style, but later severed the ties with that movement. As writer, he emphasized traditional moral values of the countryside. Born into a peasant family, he did religious studies and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1892. As a priest, he strived, unsuccessfully, for reforms in the church.(From Wikipedia) Read more

Born in Pavia, Italy, Erminio Fillipo Pampuri was raised by his aunt after his parents’ early death. As a young man he was interested in religious life, but feared that his poor health would prevent his entrance. He entered medical school at Pavia. When World War I broke out, he served in the medical corps as a sergeant. After he returned to medical school. In 1927, after six years of medical practice, he joined the Brothers of St. John of... Read more

Born in County Kildare, Paul Cullen he began his priestly studies at age seventeen in Rome’s College of the Propaganda, a seminary for international students. A brilliant scholar, immediately after his ordination he was appointed professor of Hebrew and Sacred Scripture at the Propaganda. From 1832 to 1850, he was Rector of the Irish College in Rome, a school to which Ireland’s best students for the priesthood were sent. In late 1849, he was named Archbishop of Armagh, a position... Read more

He who could walk the waters could also ride triumphantly upon what is still more fickle, unstable, tumultuous, treacherous—the billows of human wills, human purposes, human hearts.John Henry Newman Read more

Romero is a film (1989) depicting the life of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, played by Raul Julia. Richard Jordan played the role of Romero’s close friend and fellow martyred priest Rutilio Grande, and actors Ana Alicia and Harold Gould also appeared in the film. Romero was the first feature film from Paulist Pictures, known for the production of a long-standing television series called Insight. The film was screened in 1989 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was directed... Read more

Giovanni Battista Crespi (December 23, 1573 – October 23, 1632), called Il Cerano, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect, He was born in Romagnano Sesia, the son of a painter, Raffaele Crespi, and moved to Cerano with his family some years later. In 1591 he is known to have been living in Milan. True to the Counter-Reformation piety zealously expressed in Milanese art of his time, his paintings focus on mysteries and mystical episodes in saintly life. The crowded... Read more

Born Nicholas to a poor French family, he grew up with strong religious values and a fear of sin. Considered the only serious student in his cathechism class, he taught catechism to the younger children. However, when he moved to the Charlesville as a young adult, he began drifting to a more secular life. Coachman for a wealthy family. Mule driver to a contractor building a local church. His aunt, who lived nearby, convinced him to make some changes; he... Read more

Gjergj Fishta was an Albanian Franciscan friar, a poet, and a translator.Born in Fishtë, Zadrimë, Lezhë, Fishta studied philosophy and Catholic theology in Bosnia. In 1902, he became the head of the Franciscan gymnasium in Shkodra. He interpreted Albania in the conference of Paris on 1919. From the beginning of April 1919 to 1920, he served as Secretary of the Albanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. At the end of 1920, he was elected to parliament by Shkodra, and... Read more

A few years ago, we discovered this photo of my grandfather, Thomas Briordy (1896-1960), during his time in the U.S. Army during World War I. Born in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens section, he was one of nine children. At a time when infant mortality rates were high, he was the only one to make it to adulthood. After attending parochial school and a year of high school at St. James Academy in Brooklyn (now Bishop Loughlin High School), he became one... Read more