Is it just me?  Am I the only one let down by the holiday?

In a recent op-ed in the New York Times columnist Bill Keller called for the Catholic Church to lifts its requirement for mandatory celibacy for priests This requirement wrote Keller ldquo has driven away many good priests rdquo and has bred ldquo a culture of sexual exceptionalism and denial

The second week of December was a rough one on the home front The Washington Post told us that beyond the massacre at Newtown 71 children had been killed by gunfire in 2012 In Colorado a high school student armed with a just-bought shotgun set out to get even with one of his teachers but shot t

The latest from Robert David Sullivan at "(Un)Conventional Wisdom"

Dear Readers As we mark the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord we here at America are especially mindful of the many gifts that the Lord has bestowed upon us this year We count you our readers and supporters first among them Thank you On behalf of the Board of Directors editors and staff

Oh loving God who out of love chose to save us to be with us to be born meek and lowly We celebrate your great gift of love by giving gifts to those we love As we give these gifts help us remember the people behind them the miners and harvesters who work in difficult and dangerous conditions th

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

Over the past week I 39 ve discussed a few essays one by Fr Raymond Schroth S J in America another by Samuel Goldman in First Things which have lamented the decline in the humanities Those essays were long commentaries on reports that echoed the same concerns Among a few differences in ou

As fighting continued in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, and spread to other Sudanese cities, Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian leaders urged reconciliation and offered to serve as mediators in the conflict. Thousands have fled to the presumed safety of U.N. compounds after street fighting

And I say to my people’s masters, Beware/ Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people/ Who shall take what ye would not give.

Fighting in the Middle East creates openings for extremist and threatens tolerance of Christians.

The Dignity of the Vulnerable By Meghan J. Clarke‘The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges” (No. 218). In a simple sentence, Pope Francis summarizes the bedrock of Catholic social doctrine: human dignity

Grass-roots groups have turned their efforts to state legislatures.

Open the Doors“The Continuing Crisis,” by Jon Fuller, S.J., M.D. (12/2), addresses important issues and appropriately recognizes terrific work Catholics are doing to combat H.I.V./AIDS. That being said, as a young Catholic working in the H.I.V./AIDS community, I believe important questio

Pope Francis' collegial spirit is demonstrated and practiced in his new exhortation.

What has always struck me about this passage is Matthew’s immediate yes to Jesus’ invitation.

It is important to remember that the sheep, ultimately, don’t exist for the sake of the shepherd.

Some people, focused almost exclusively on numbers, are concerned that religious life is in decline. This narrows our ability to see what God is doing.