The Surprising Similarities Between Catholicism and Shi’ism

Last updated on: May 1, 2026 at 11:20 pm By Andrew Chesnut

When I saw a photo some time ago of a young Shi’a man whose body was completely covered in tattoos I immediately thought of Catholic devotional tattoos. That similarity stayed with me. I recognized in it what is also described in our book Devoti Violenti, and what has intrigued me for years: two religious traditions which, despite their differences, share striking points of contact. Beyond the familiar television images, I first encountered this in a tangible way in Nevşehir, Turkey,... Read more

Blasphemer-in-Chief vs Pope Leo: Trump Blasts the US Pontiff

Last updated on: April 13, 2026 at 10:28 am By Andrew Chesnut

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The unprecedented public clash between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV is not merely another episode of political theater; it is a revealing theological moment that forces a fundamental question about the nature of Christianity itself. When a self-identified Christian political leader openly denounces the Bishop of Rome for articulating core Gospel principles, the issue at stake is not only ideology but discipleship. One might say that this conflict exposes a deep fissure between the performative Christianity of power and... Read more

Warmongers’ Prayers For No Mercy for Iran Fall on Deaf Ears

Last updated on: March 29, 2026 at 2:13 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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On Palm Sunday, Pope Leo XIV did not mince words. As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its second month, he declared that God rejects the prayers of leaders whose “hands are full of blood.” He called the conflict “atrocious,” insisted that Jesus cannot be used to justify war, and reminded the world that Christ is the “King of Peace,” not the patron saint of missiles, bombers, and airstrikes. For a pope known for caution, it was a scathing denunciation.... Read more

Memorializing the Dead at Naples’ Feast of Madonna dell’Arco

Last updated on: March 4, 2026 at 8:51 am By Andrew Chesnut

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On March 1, 2026, I stood in Naples, a city that, in the early spring light, felt surprisingly gentle. The noise of scooters, voices, and footsteps blended with a soft warmth that hardly seemed to match the city’s notorious intensity. Among tourists and locals, small processions unexpectedly appeared: groups of followers of the Madonna dell’Arco, recognizable by their simple clothing and the calm, swaying pace with which they moved through the streets. Brass bands and bright trumpet blasts accompanied them,... Read more

Where’s Santa Muerte? The Catholic Altar of El Mencho

Last updated on: February 25, 2026 at 1:17 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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When news broke about the personal altar of slain CJNG kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes—aka El Mencho—many expected to see the usual suspects: Santa Muerte statues, black candles, maybe even something overtly occult. That’s the storyline we’ve been fed for years. But what authorities actually found in his Tapalpa, Jalisco, hideout tells a very different story. El Mencho’s altar was not esoteric, not demonic, and not even particularly unusual by Mexican standards. It was deeply, unmistakably Catholic According to images from... Read more

“Will Take Down Francis”: Bannon and Epstein vs The Pope

Last updated on: February 6, 2026 at 11:22 am By Andrew Chesnut

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Nearly a year after his death, the legacy of Pope Francis has come into sharper focus—not as a consensus achievement, but as a record of sustained conflict. What once appeared to some as episodic controversy now reads more clearly as a defining feature of his pontificate: an unusually intense campaign to discredit, marginalize, and politically neutralize a pope whose moral vision collided with jingoist and reactionary political projects across the West. Seen in retrospect, the opposition faced by the first... Read more

Ongoing Catholic Decline in Latin America Under Pope Francis

Last updated on: January 21, 2026 at 10:31 am By Andrew Chesnut

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For more than five centuries, Catholicism has been the civilizational grammar of Latin America. From Andean pilgrimage routes to urban neighborhood shrines, from Marian basilicas to roadside crosses, Catholic symbols have ordered both public space and private devotion. To be Mexican, Colombian, or Brazilian was not merely to be a citizen of a nation-state, but a subject of a sacramental world. And yet, for the past half-century, a steady drumbeat has accompanied the region’s religious landscape: Catholicism is in decline.... Read more

We Shall Overcome: Religious Resistance to ICE

Last updated on: January 10, 2026 at 1:42 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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In the unfolding story of immigration enforcement in the United States, what once functioned as a quiet arm of federal bureaucracy has become deeply religious terrain. From prayer vigils at federal detention facilities to interfaith statements condemning state violence, faith communities have stepped into direct confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For these believers, resistance to ICE is not a political accessory to faith -it is faith in action, rooted in scripture, embodied in ritual, and lived out in... Read more

Sixteen Remarkable Revelations About the Virgin of Guadalupe

Last updated on: December 9, 2025 at 12:51 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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Mexicans will tell you that they are 90 percent Catholic but 100 percent Guadalupan. While the numbers aren’t entirely accurate anymore, it is definitely the case that the Virgin of Guadalupe has been a constituent part of Mexican national identity, reflected in the fact that millions of both women and men are named Guadalupe, many going by the nickname “Lupe,” such as a colleague at the University of Houston, Dr. Guadalupe San Miguel, Professor of Mexican-American history. As a specialist... Read more

Onward Christian Soldier: Pete Hegseth’s Crusade Against DEI

Last updated on: October 16, 2025 at 9:06 am By Andrew Chesnut

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On September 30, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered what amounted to an evangelical sermon to an assembly of more than 800 top military commanders at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia. “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now,” said Hegseth. “This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department to rip out the politics. No more identity... Read more

What type of building was Jesus born in?