Almost everyone has an opinion about Pope Francis. For some time I have been inquiring of my students, co-workers and others in widely varying circumstances what they think of him and why he has so captured the imagination of believers and nonbelievers alike.The responses are telling: Francis emphas

for the night, we decidewe must go nowwhile we can. New York is sinking,we go to Pompei,itself a reminderthat nothing is permanent. Vesuvius erupted yesterday,volcanic ash blanchingthe air above Naples. At the airport, we rent a car,and suddenly we can smellthe sea, feel distended lig

There are few experiences more devastating than being falsely accused of a crime.

Every evening at 6 p.m., programming on Ireland’s national radio and television broadcaster stops. News and weather are put on hold while a bell tolls, ringing in the pattern 3-3-3-9. This daily observance of the Angelus, the Catholic prayer honoring the Annunciation, is among the longest-runn

Father Wissam Akiki became the first married man to be ordained a priest for the U.S. Maronite Catholic Church on Feb. 27 at St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis, Mo. • Thousands lined up at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus on Feb. 24 in hope of receiving one of

“The church in the United States has a moral and ethical imperative to protect human dignity and must address the problem of mass incarceration in our nation,” the leaders of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. said in a statement issued on Feb. 7 in Newark, N.J. The coalition incl

‘I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.” What a stunning

‘The most important thing that can happen to a person,” Pope Francis explained during a homily on the First Sunday of Advent before confirming a group of parish children, “is to encounter Jesus, who loves us, who has saved us, who gave his life for us.” In our increasingly di

A cease-fire that seemed to offer a chance for a peaceful resolution to months-long conflict in the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, has unraveled. Intermittent fighting has continued since the cease-fire agreement was signed on Jan. 23. But now in Malakal, a key city in an oil-producing re

This Lent try focusing on something often take for granted: water.

Citizen United protects free speech but ignores disparities of power among different speakers.

When I first read about the story below I thought of airlines charging additional fees for checked baggage food and beverage and every other service and perk that used to be free According to the Los Angeles Times various California State University campuses Fullerton Dominguez Hills Fresno a

For Dems, it's not either Medicaid and food stamps or same-sex marriage and gun control.

In the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians I discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the Galatians the situation when Paul wrote to them when the letter might have been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote based on the com

nbsp Jaffna Srilanka I am near the end of my two weeks in Srilanka and post here my fourth blog from the very northern tip of this island - Ceylon as we used to call it - off the coast of India You can read the first second and third too While the rest of my ten-week travels in South Asia

The Catholic Church needs to find a way to offer healing, strength and salvation to Catholics whose marriages have failed, who are committed to making a new union work and who long to do so within the church and with the grace of Communion, Cardinal Walter Kasper told the world's cardinals.Jesus

Archbishop calls for "human and diplomatic solidarity" as war clouds gather over Crimea.

Christians who remain in Syria 39 s Raqqa province nbsp may now be subject to a quot dhimmi pact quot In classical Islamic law a dhimmi or ldquo protected person rdquo is allowed to live in Muslim lands provided he pays the jizya a residency tax in a state of submission and abides by other

On The Ignatian Educator, Matt Emerson shares a must-read article for anyone worried about social media's targeting of unsuspecting minors.