This web page provides the best sites for news, resources, and opinions about our Catholic faith. Thanks to Sarah Reinhard from Our Sunday Visitor for the references. Click the link after the title to go to the web site.
Resources and Scholarships For Catholic College Students
Whether a student chooses to attend a Catholic school or opts for a public college, there is a scholarship opportunity out there for them. Here are some of the many options.
Dynamic Catholic
Follow the daily videos from Dynamic Catholic during December 2015 to develop your appreciation and understanding of mercy.
The Vatican vatican.va
You’ll find enough here to keep you busy for hours on end. On the home page is a handy way to find all the recent writings, activity and news relating to Pope Francis. You can check out photos and follow his current and upcoming activities.Do a bit more clicking and you can find just about any encyclical, papal writing or Church document you could want to read. The site’s been overhauled recently, and while it’s not perfect, it’s better than it was — and there’s no denying the usefulness and opportunity that’s here!
EWTN The Global Catholic Network ewtn.com
Yes, there’s the media linkage you’d expect to the TV and radio programming and the tireless news work they conduct. But there also are subsites on faith that could take you the rest of the year to plumb, including devotions, a document library and a dozen mini-sites that are beautiful, educational and awesome. They also have a subsite dedicated to kids, with games, prayers and TV programs.
New Advent newadvent.org
This site is a bit of everything: the Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica in its complete text, writings of the Fathers of the Church, the Bible, a library of Church documents and content curation. Every day there’s a collection of links from around the Internet (sometimes not just Catholic).
Catechism of the Catholic Church scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
Have you ever wished you could look up a reference in the catechism or find all the places where a certain phrase was mentioned? Have you ever struggled to remember where you read something or wondered what the catechism has to say about a topic?
While there are a couple of other places you can go to search the catechism, what this parish in Mississippi has put together beats them all. You can search by a search string or phrase, by paragraph numbers or just peruse the entire book. The administrators just recently made the site mobile-friendly, so there’s no need to shy away from getting all your questions answered, even when you’re away from your computer.
The Word Among Us (Read online)
“The Word Among Us is intended to assist people in reading, meditating on and understanding scripture [and to] provide sound, practical advice for Catholics on the living out of the Christian life… We can have a relationship of love and friendship with the Son of God.”
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops usccb.org
You’ll find everything from news to readings for the day, beliefs and teachings to the complete Bible.
Word On Fire wordonfire.org
Father Robert Barron’s web site. This is a “must view” web site. There are videos and podcasts and articles and more.
Decent Films Guide decentfilms.com
Catholic film critic Steven Greydanus watches movies, critiques them, rates them, and writes about them.
Star Quest Production Network (SQPN) sqpn.com
There are shows for everyone, they’re done professionally, and they’re all free. This remains one of the best resources I know of for Catholic content.
Catholic Answers catholic.com
When it comes to “getting the best Catholic web address,” I think it’s safe to say Catholic Answers won. The founders of the site haven’t stopped just with a cool URL, though; they’re working tirelessly to help us all know how to explain and defend our faith by teaching usto better understand it.
Catholic Culture catholicculture.org
In addition to news and commentary, you’ll find liturgical readings, links, history, resources and even reviews of Catholic websites. It’s a site well-done and one worth visiting often.
News.VA news.va
The Vatican’s official news network.
Catholic News Service www.catholicnews.com
This is compiled by the USCCB and is full of great links and information.
Rome Reports romereports.com
Not just news to read, there’s also video. You won’t be bored, and you don’t have to watch the video if you’re more inclined to read.
Zenit zenit.org
It’s a newspaper in your Web browser, with Catholic perspectives on everything.
The Deacon’s Bench patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench
Deacon Greg Kandra is a pro, and he saves me from having to read other sites. His blogging is equal parts interesting links and insightful commentary.
Conversion Diary conversiondiary.com
Jennifer Fulwiler writes about conversion, life with small children and, if the season’s right, scorpions. Her posts are always entertaining, unfailingly penetrating and usually worth sharing at least twice.
Gospel in the Digital Age blog.archny.org
Cardinal Timothy Dolan blogs, and he blogs well. Reading his blog makes me appreciate the image of bishops as shepherds.
Ironic Catholic www.ironiccatholic.com
Susan Windley-Daoust has been making me laugh for years. She writes in her site description, “Think The Onion written by someone who loves the Catholic Church.”
Happy Catholic happycatholic.blogspot.com
Julie Davis has been blogging since the early days, and she’s as down-to-earth now as she was then. Her blogging includes links to other sites of interest, book reviews, movie comments and art. Yes, art. I visit her site often and always leave with a smile.
Jimmy Akin jimmyakin.com
What’s not to love about Jimmy Akin? He wears a cowboy hat, has a beard and can explain the Faith in ways that even someone who’s slow to accept things can understand. (I speak of myself there.) He has weekly roundups, such as The Weekly Francis, as well as a Secret Information Club, which may be the most entertaining marketing scheme I’ve ever seen done so well.
LifeTeen lifeteen.com
This is aimed at a younger audience, but I think that just makes it more entertaining for the old fogies like me who follow along. If all you do is listen to the “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday” podcast or watch the “Beyond Words” video podcast, you’ll see what I mean. I’ve grown in my faith just from taking in Mark Hart’s reflections on the upcoming weekend readings. The teaching component of the content on the website is attractive and well done.
Amazing Catechists amazingcatechists.com
Founder Lisa Mladinich has pulled together two dozen catechists who post daily on topics of interest to parents and catechists and, really, anyone who wants to know their faith.
Cardinal Newman Society cardinalnewmansociety.org
It’s all about Catholic education, from grade school to college and beyond. How do you apply Catholic principles to educational needs? Here’s a site to show you how it’s done.
Strange Notions strangenotions.com
This is designed as a place of dialogue for Catholics and atheists. Have questions about Catholicism and atheism? Here you go. Well done and with conversation to boot.
Integrated Catholic Life integratedcatholiclife.org
Founded by Randy Hain and Deacon Mike Bickerstaff, this is an e-magazine that focuses on integrating faith, family and work. It features timely articles, quotes from the saints, questions and answers and blogs.
Catholic Exchange catholicexchange.com
It is enriching Catholic reading from a variety of writers, with topics that range from news and feast days to books and opinion.
Ignitum Today ignitumtoday.com
Not a dull moment here. It bills itself as “the social network of the New Evangelization Generation.” They’re on fire for their faith and that makes them fun to read — period.
Catholic Lane catholiclane.com
This may be the only place you’ll find new Catholic poetry, though I haven’t researched that exhaustively. It’s hard to categorize how I feel about Catholic Lane: there’s plenty of news and commentary, but there’s also unique content from an interesting group of writers. I never get bored here.
uCatholic ucatholic.com
It’s a lot of everything, from daily readings to saints of the day to apologetics. There’s a daily catechism feature, a variety of prayers and commentary.
Catholic Stand catholicstand.com
“Take a stand,” urge the folks behind Catholic Stand. And the columns here do — without a doubt. This is reading that will make you think (and maybe squirm).
Divine Office divineoffice.org
Aside from the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours is the official prayer of the Church. On this site, you can opt to just read the prayers, or you can listen to the audio and follow along. It’s available free online and as a podcast. The apps associated with it are excellent and, while not free, are well worth the investment.
Come, pray the Rosary comepraytherosary.org
Not only is this a lovely website, but it’s also a complete prayer experience. You can select whether you want to pray in real time with a “worldwide rosary” or on your own. You can also share your intentions.
Catholic Mom catholicmom.com
Founded by popular speaker and writer Lisa Hendey, the site is almost a portal of things Catholic. There are daily features such as Daily Gospel Reflections, Tech Talk and Book Notes. Each Sunday, there are new Gospel activities. Each week there’s a giveaway of great Catholic resources. There are book club discussions and posts, a weekly Small Success link-up for moms to encourage one another and at least a half-dozen new columns a day from various contributors.
Catholic Dads catholicdadsonline.com
“Catholic moms rock when it comes to building community. We men … not so good.” And according to their “about” page, that’s what Catholic Dads is out to do. The topics range from masculinity to finances and include reviews, family life and culture concerns.
Catholic Icing catholicicing.com
Who said raising Catholic kids was boring? As someone who’s decidedly craft-challenged, I appreciate Lacy Rabideau’s sunny instructions and her plethora of ideas. She makes it easy to smile about sharing the Faith with my kids.
Equipping Catholic Families equippingcatholicfamilies.com
Some people, I have decided, must not sleep, and Monica McConkey is one of them. How else do you explain the way she transforms things like egg cartons into a liturgical feast day celebration centerpiece, complete with a prayer service and a pseudo-bingo game on top? Well, OK, I’m exaggerating, but only slightly. Equipping Catholic Families shares plenty of ways to involve your whole family in actively being Catholic.
Catholic Foodie catholicfoodie.com
You don’t have to love to cook to love Jeff Young’s brand of Catholic. His goal is to highlight “how food — good food — can be a sign of God’s love and care for each of us and our families.”