What is Catholic Labs?

Catholic Labs is a place where thinkers can work together to discover the truth. We aim to apply a global worldview to Catholic issues and a Catholic worldview to global issues in order to foster dialogue and see the world in a new light. Challenging as well as encouraging one another, we endeavor to investigate pertinent questions, improve lives, and foster a spiritual community. Through these efforts, we intend to do our part in building up the Church in our day and to become salt, light, and leaven for the online community and the world.

The 21st century is a turbulent time for the world. Religious beliefs are fragmented, East and West are colliding, and atheism is trying to stake out the high ground in discussions about progressive human thought. At Catholic Labs, we don't believe that religion is an outdated and primitive product of evolution whose time has passed. We don't believe that Catholic thinkers have to shield themselves from dialogue with the non-Catholic world. We don't believe Catholicism is a dinosaur, and we don't believe that Catholic thought stopped with Thomas Aquinas.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 8, Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him:

"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

We believe that the truth will set us all free, and that God has made the truth accessible, through our own senses, our intellects, the teachings of the Bible, of Christ and his apostles, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We believe that Catholic thinkers have lots to bring to the table when confronting the problems of our day. Catholic thinking and Catholic spirituality have the potential to play a powerful and life-giving role in the 21st century, and we've built Catholic Labs as a place for the kind of spiritual and intellectual growth needed to make this happen.

Our goal at Catholic Labs is to broaden the conversation towards the fullness of what our faith teaches us about the struggles, obstacles, and blessings of our daily lives. We want to connect with Catholics and non-Catholics and engage in a frank and fearless dialogue about the future of our world.

Is Catholic Labs a Real Laboratory?

We picked the name Catholic Labs because we aren't afraid to ask questions, explore, and experiment in order to find the truth. We're not talking about sending Bibles into orbit or devising empirical tests for measuring the divinity of Christ. We intend to contribute to the growth in understanding of Christian revelation (cf. Dei Verbum, no. 8) and of the inner meaning and value of all creation (cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 36) that manifests the living dialogue between God and human beings and includes progress in human knowledge and understanding. We believe that this sometimes requires going outside our comfort zones, encountering God's Word in unfamiliar places, and searching out new ways to express old truths. Catholic Labs offers a "controlled environment" where anyone looking for wisdom can examine their beliefs, probe unexplored territory, play with new ideas (mindful that some of these will need to be rejected!), and challenge one another in a fraternal spirit to seek the truth in all its fullness.

We take seriously the instructions of the Apostle to the church of the Thessalonians:

"Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise prophetic utterances.
Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil."


So Where are the Test Tubes?


God speaks to us in many ways, some of which we could never have expected. As Catholics, we believe that we encounter God in his Son through the living witnesses of holy women and men, through the teachings of our pastors and our fathers and mothers in faith, and in a special way through word and sacrament each time we celebrate the Eucharist. We will be reflecting on the traditional sources of Catholic faith in light of contemporary issues, bringing to them our questions, our challenges, our experiences, our concerns.

So let's begin!