Australian Cardinal George Pell said the final report of the Synod of Bishops on the family did not create an opening for the divorced and civilly remarried to receive Communion. Other synod members took a different view and acknowledged that the paragraph in question was being read differently.

In a statement released last week, the leaders of the Jesuits in Europe express their deep concern for the refugees who have flooded into Europe this year and lay out new policies for addressing the situation.

Moments of suffering and conflict are for God occasions of mercy. Today is a time of mercy!

The pope has introduced “a far more open approach to addressing pastoral issues."

As grateful as I am for the health and well being of my family, as thankful as I am for the abundant blessings of my life, I know I have more to do. More to pray about. More to love.

No more than any other person, whether famous or “ordinary,” Maureen O'Hara had her trials and tribulations and yet, somehow, she continued to thrive despite them.

Saul comes to terms with his encounter with the Risen Lord.

Pope Francis encouraged all participants to speak freely: "Let no one say, 'This cannot be said.'" And they did. Conversation was open, lively, and sometimes contentious.

“Today is a time of mercy!” This was the parting message Pope Francis gave to the 270 synod fathers from some 120 countries at the closing Mass for the Synod on the Family in St. Peter’s Basilica, Oct. 25.He has made this same declaration several times since his election as pope on

As with a poem or a dance a symphony or a drama there are times when the deeper narrative of human experience comes to expression more clearly only through art Political events or their interpretation are no different The title of a French film released last year ldquo Cartoonists Foot-sold

In his closing speech, Pope Francis hit out hard at those who have sought to hinder his efforts.

Cambridge MA The semester is passing speedily and we are past the half-way point I realize then that I still have not called your attention to the wonderful exhibit currently at the Fogg Harvard rsquo s gloriously refurbished art museum quot Corita Kent and the Language of Pop quot nbsp Sis

The synod significantly closed no doors.

"Suffragette," like all films of its kind—historical dramas about social injustice—are from what I like to call the “eat your vegetables because they’re good for you” school of cinema.

The decision to not to include women has to do with the family. Sexism is something that many, if not most, of our mothers, daughters and sisters have to deal with.

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau, Canada, told America in an interview that violence against women is a “whole social phenomenon we’re still not dealing with adequately."

If the synod is a crisis, then what would the conclave of 1799-1800 be considered?

In the end—at the end—the human heart has only one plea. It wants to live. It knows that it was not created to go down into the darkness.

There was general appreciation for the draft final text because the synod fathers recognized that it reflected faithfully what they had said in the group discussions.

Pope Francis said that the times are changing and we Christians must change continuously, freely but within the truth of the faith.