This Sunday, January 4, marks five years since I took the helm at Crisis Magazine. At the time we were in the midst of the Covid madness, Pope Francis was confusing faithful Catholics, the 2020 election was being disputed, the January 6th “riots” were only two days away. It was clear then that we were in the midst of a crisis, ecclesiastically, politically, and culturally, and so the mission of Crisis was vitally needed. After five years, while some of the issues have changed, the crisis is still with us and so I still believe in the mission of this magazine. Let’s take a look back at the previous five years and what articles most resonated with our readers.

2021

My first year at Crisis, 2021, was dominated by Covid-related news. This was the year the vaccines were first rolled out, and masking mandates were imposed everywhere, including many Catholic parishes. Online censorship became rampant as social media companies tried to prevent an honest accounting of the Covid response. We here at Crisis took a lot of heat that year for our stand against these measures (we were one of the few mainstream Catholic publications to do so), but history has proven us correct. More than anything, the Covid pandemic was an opportunity for the powerful to take more control over the world, but fortunately there was pushback from many quarters, including this one.

2021 also saw one of the worst papal documents in history: Traditionis Custodes, promulgated by Pope Francis in July 2021 to severely restrict the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass. We here at Crisis have been strongly opposed to this unjust decree and we continue to pray that it will be fully rescinded in the near future. One bright spot from this motu proprio was the resistance to it by many bishops around the world, including here in the United States. Most of this resistance wasn’t outspoken, but instead involved implementing it as minimally as possible or even ignoring it altogether.

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of 2021:

1. Catholic Conscience and the COVID-19 Vaccine (Annamaria Cardinalli)
2. Are Catholics Eligible for COVID Vaccine Religious Exemptions? (Eric Sammons)
3. Stop Pretending the COVID Jab is Morally Equivalent to Other Meds (Suzan Sammons)
4. The Tale of Two Fr. Jameses (Fr. Dwight Longenecker)
5. Resisting Abortion-tainted Vaccines and the Culture of Death (Bishop Athanasius Schneider)
6. The Fake Theology Behind Vaccine Mandates (Janet E. Smith) 
7. Has Jordan Peterson (Finally) Found Christ? (Kennedy Hall)
8. Joe Biden Eats and Drinks His Own Spiritual Death (Austin Ruse)
9. Are Abortion-Free COVID-19 Vaccines on the Way? (Frank P. Trotta, Jr.)
10. The Beiging of Bishop Barron (Eric Sammons)

2022

The political news in 2022 was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here again we took heat for refusing to blindly follow the neocon unquestioned American support for Ukraine. We did not put a Ukrainian flag on our social media profiles. For this we were called “Putin stooges” and other names, but again history has shown the wisdom of our more balanced view of the situation. Covid-related restrictions were still in place in many places, and I wrote my most controversial article ever with the provocatively titled “Pachamama Did This.”

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of 2022:

1. The Sad Case of Frank Pavone (Eric Sammons)
2. Father Stu: A Flawed Story of Redemption (Austin Ruse)
3. The Burial of a Young Mother (Austin Ruse)
4. Rings of Power: Jeff Bezos’s Billion Dollar Anti-Tolkien Fan Fiction (Ben Reinhard)
5. Amazon’s Tolkien (Ben Reinhard)
6. 2000 Mules and the Big Truth (Sean Fitzpatrick)
7. Why Jordan Peterson’s Surrender on Same-Sex “Marriage” Is Tragic (John Horvat II)
8. Archbishop Viganò Was Right About Donald Trump (Kennedy Hall)
9. Pachamama Did This (Eric Sammons)
10. Don’t Be Fooled By “Nice” (Leila Miller)

2023

Probably the biggest story in the Church in 2023 was the removal of Bishop Joseph Strickland from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas in November. There wasn’t even an attempt to give cause for this removal; instead it was just another instance of the pettiness of Pope Francis. 2023 was also the year that the Synod on Synodality officially began, which was the Vatican’s attempt to be as out of touch as possible with the faithful.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel that led to an overwhelming response by Israel against Palestine, particularly Gaza, with full United State support. Here at Crisis we were willing to be critical of this US support as well of what we believe is Israel’s disproportionate response, which has led to much criticism from some conservatives. In fact, our criticism of Israel has led to a few Crisis writers leaving our fold and a small but significant number of Catholics disassociating with us. But we feel our position is consistent with Catholic moral teaching as well as political prudence.

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of 2023:

1. 10 of the Best Cities in America to Raise a Catholic Family (Crisis Magazine)
2. The Homosexual Infestation of the Catholic Church (S.A. McCarthy)
3. A Radical Proposal for the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival (Fr. John A. Perricone)
4. Bishop Strickland Becomes a Victim for the Church He Loves (Kevin Wells)
5. Bishop Strickland: Laying His Life Down for His Sheep (Kevin Wells)
6. A Movie Isn’t Worth Sinning Over (Eric Sammons)
7. Praying for Pope Francis (Katie Gillio)
8. They Made My Daughter Cry at World Youth Day (Austin Ruse)
9. Nine Bad Arguments for Catholics Attending Invalid “Weddings” (Leila Miller)
10. The Revolution Comes for Scott Hahn (Eric Sammons)

2024

I felt like 2024 was a waiting period for Catholics: we were anticipating the death of Pope Francis throughout the year and contemplating a post-Francis Church. While he didn’t pass away in 2024, it was a time to look forward with guarded hope.

And of course 2024 was a presidential election year, with Donald Trump being re-elected after four years out of office. It was also the year that podcasts became mainstream, replacing legacy media as the platform where news really happens.

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of 2024:

1. The False Christ of The Chosen (Leila Miller)
2. Why Would Candace Owens Convert to Catholicism? (Kennedy Hall)
3. My Advice? Step Down (Regis Martin)
4. A Wearying Pontificate Nears Its End (Eric Sammons)
5. “The Catholic Church is not the Pope’s Church and Catholics are therefore not papists but Christians”: An Exclusive Interview with Cardinal Gerhard Müller (Cole DeSantis)
6. The Unrecognizable Netflix Mary (Fr. Edward Looney)
7. Taylor Swift Does Not Belong in Your Christian Era (Lauren De Witt)
8. Courage: The Sage the Church Needs (Kevin Wells)
9. Remaining Faithfully Catholic Near the End of the Francis Pontificate  (Pete Baklinski)
10. The Olympic Drag Queen Show Wasn’t Just Mockery (Casey Chalk)

2025

2025 was a year of transitions: we got a new president here in America and a new pope in the Catholic Church. Early indications from both new occupants are promising, but 2026 will likely reveal more clearly the direction of both the United States and the Church. This past year was also when Gen Z began to dominate the headlines, changing the conversation in both politics and Catholicism (in mostly positive ways, in my opinion).

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of 2025:

1. Charlie Kirk and His Surprising Sentiments Toward the Catholic Church (Mark Haas)
2. Catholics Are Rapidly Losing Ground (Eric Sammons)
3. The Pope is Dead. Long Live the Papacy. (Eric Sammons)
4. In Defense of Fr. Ripperger (Michael Hichborn)
5. Bishops Burning Bridges (Sheryl Collmer)
6. The Miracle That Grew From the Ashes of 2018 (Kevin Wells)
7. The Purging of Faithful Catholics Continues (Eric Sammons)
8. A Priest’s Warning to Trump Regarding Ukraine (Fr. Jason Charron)
9. About That Adulterous Coldplay Couple… (Leila Miller)
10. The Coming Trumpian Pope (Austin Ruse)

It’s been a great five years and I’m looking forward to the next five!

Happy new year!