Grace and Peace in 2026

Happy New Year everybody! As has been custom here at Unam Sanctam from time immemorial at New Years, it's time for my annual recap!

I want to extend sincere thanks to all my supporters, both those known to me and those known only to God, for 2025 was truly a tremendous year for USC and my affiliated projects. I saw growth, blessing, generosity, engagement, and support across the spectrum that made 2025 one of the best years ever for Unam Sanctam Catholicam. 

God is For Us, Not Against Us

When I was young, I was a troubled teen—to some degree, at least. I mean, I don't want to exaggerate. There were others who were vastly more troubled than I and certainly had things a lot worse. I had a stable family, middle class lifestyle, and pretty inconsequntial small town upbringing in the Midwest. Even so, I had problems: I believed a lot of nonsense, developed some pretty foul habits, struggled with depression and loneliness, put many bad substances (and worse ideas) into my body, committed misdeeds, and eventually became nihilistic. I made many poor decisions, the ramifications of which I continue to work out to this day. 

Book Review: Catherine of the Erie by Claudio Salvucci

This month I read an excellent new historical fiction work from the good folks at Arx Publishing entitled Catherine of the Erie, about the life of Catherine Gandeaktena, the Erie convert who founded the Saint-François-Xavier mission at Prairie-de-la-Magdelaine (Kentake) in Quebec in 1667. Catherine of the Erie is authored by the erudite Claudio Salvucci, a name well-known in traditional Catholic circles. Claudio has produced many excellent books and essays over the years on a rich diversity of subjects, though he is especially known for his voluminous knowledgea on the Jesuit missions of French Canada and the Catholic Native American communities they established. One of the greatest things Claudio ever produced—in concert with Tony Schiavo of Arx—was a modern reproduction of the Jesuit Relations in English. The Relations were a set of annual reports, published from 1632 to 1673, written by Jesuit missionaries in New France which detailed their missionary endeavors.