Tom Shakely

One of the reasons homeschooled kids have superior educational outcomes is avoiding the slow-progress-across-all-subjects method public schools impose on every student, no matter how they learn. The evaluation/testing you are talking about would almost certainly prohibit that sort of tailored education, especially since they would be designed and administered by a system that wants to eliminate homeschooling in almost all cases.

Goodbye = God be with you Holy smoke = election of a Pope Breakfast = break the fast Holiday = Holy Day People have forgotten who they are, they don’t even know what the words they are saying actually mean.

Today I asked an abortion advocate what her favorite method of abortion is.

Pope Leo XIV encourages Christian lawmakers to allow the Gospel to guide their decisions and help people overcome the fear of starting a family. vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2…

Pope Leo XIV speaking to centre-right politicians of the European Parliament: “To be a Christian engaged in politics requires a realistic perspective that starts with people’s concrete concerns.  This perspective should seek, above all, to foster dignified working conditions that will encourage people’s ingenuity and creativity in the face of a market that is increasingly dehumanizing and unfulfilling.  Such an outlook must enable people to overcome the fear of starting a family, of having children, a fear that seems to be particularly prevalent in Europe.  It also needs to address the root causes of migration, caring for those who suffer, while also taking into account the real capacities for welcoming and integrating migrants into society.  It likewise requires confronting in a non-ideological way the great challenges of our time, such as care for creation and artificial intelligence.  The latter offers great opportunities, but it is also fraught with danger.”

The bald eagle almost disappeared from the lower 48. Now it’s one of the greatest wildlife comebacks in American history. America's 250th birthday hits different when you remember that.

Faith in action today at the Virginia March for Life. Parishioners from across the Catholic Diocese of Arlington came together today, marching, praying, and standing together in hope, to witness to the dignity of every human life.

The Tidal Basin is open again. ✂️ @SecretaryBurgum officially reopened the restored shoreline along the National Mall, welcoming visitors back to one of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic places. Thanks to @POTUS’s Great American Outdoors Act, more than 6,000 feet of seawall have been reinforced to improve long-term resilience and restore public access. The project also added 546 new trees, including cherry blossoms around the Basin. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, these improvements help ensure this historic landscape is ready to welcome visitors from across the country and around the world.

The Catholic University can form pioneers of a new humanism in the context of the digital revolution. This is a service to the truth and to all humanity. Without this demanding educational effort, passive adaptation to dominant paradigms will be mistaken for competence, and the loss of freedom for progress. #ApostolicJourney #Cameroon

My husband and I have been involved in the College of St. Joseph the Worker for the last few years. Every single student & teacher I’ve met from the school have been fonts of hope in an otherwise dismal academic landscape, where too many institutions are failing to prepare students for a future with increasingly limited and uncertain job prospects. But more importantly, the school is proof that education can still form the whole person and be sanctifying. Ite ad Joseph! 🔨

Faith does not separate the spiritual from the social. It gives Christians the strength to interact with the world and to respond to the needs of others, especially the weakest. What is needed for the salvation of a community is a communal commitment, which integrates the spiritual and moral dimensions of the Gospel in the heart of local institutions and structures, making them instruments for the common good, not places of conflict, self-interest, or sterile struggles. #ApostolicJourney #Cameroon

I’m excited (and exhausted) to have finished my forthcoming book, American Odyssey, which is due out on July 21. It combines a study of themes from Homer’s Odyssey as they intertwine with deeply-held American beliefs and values, simultaneously prizing our pioneering spirit and our great capacity for making a home in the New World. The manuscript is now in production. The July publication will coincide with the celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial and the release of Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, both of which were an impetus to write this book with dispatch. The promising new publishing venture, Creed and Culture Books, will be publishing the book, and is offering 20% off the cover price if you order from their website. Just use the code AMODYSSEY20 on this page: creedandculture.com/books/american…. And, for a bit of a preview, I’ll not only discuss The Odyssey, but iconic American (and “Odyssean”) works such as “Wizard of Oz,” “Huckleberry Finn,” “Field of Dreams,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

@JLLiedl I have friends in @Hillsdale's MA Government program. It's a great program, but Christendom's being explicitly Catholic and online should draw many more Hill staffers, etc.

This is interesting. As far as I know, CUA and Georgetown are the only Catholic unis that offer something similar. Despite their proximity to DC, Christendom's program is online, but I wonder how many participants will be DC denizens.

Congratulations to @ChristendomVA on the launch of their Center for Public Policy and master's program. The Church needs more men and women of principle in public life. christendom.edu/2026/04/14/chr…

"A democracia, contudo, permanece saudável somente quando enraizada na lei moral e em uma verdadeira visão da pessoa humana. Sem esse fundamento, corre o risco de se tornar uma tirania majoritária ou uma máscara para o domínio das elites econômicas e tecnológicas." — Leão XIV

All cities should have “stylistic elements of the public space.”

Ambassador Burch welcomed Archbishop Caccia, the new nuncio to the United States. They held a wide ranging discussion on the U.S.-Holy See relationship including opportunities to work together on many issues of mutual concern.

A state that burdens religious sisters caring for the dying poor has lost its moral bearings.

Making Easter Monday a federal holiday seems long past due.