Pope Francis is the fourth most powerful person in the world, according to Forbes, which ranks him immediately after the presidents of Russia, the United States and China. • Commissioned by the Irish Association of Catholic Priests, a critical review of the Irish government’s investi

The day President John F. Kennedy was murdered, a Divine Word seminarian walked up the hill to our family’s apartment in Rome to tell my wife Sally and me the terrible news. Seeking wisdom, I wrote Dorothy Day.

The Right LanguageRe “A Church for the Poor,” by Bishop Robert W. McElroy (10/21): I am glad to see the phrase “the common good” used. The word “poverty” appears 22 times, the phrase “the common good” 13 times, “the poor” 10 times, “a

Bishops around the world are being asked to examine the situation of families under their care.

The Syrian Christian town of Sadad was taken over by Islamist militias in mid-October, then re-conquered by the Syrian army on Oct. 28. What the army discovered “is the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half,” said Archbishop Selwanos Bo

The editors on the human rights office in El Salvador, changes at the CTSA and lead exposure.

From the archives, the editors on the assassination of John F. Kennedy

The argument that independent voters have wearied of Tea Party shenanigans got a boost from the election results last night as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie overwhelmed his little known Democratic opponent and Democrat Terry McAuliffe leaned in for a win in Virginia A GOP pragmatist supported

M23 rebels laid down their arms in the Democratic Republic of Congo The Supreme Court deliberated nbsp quot official quot prayer Vatican Officials reported Monday that the nbsp Extraordinary Synod of Bishops set for next October which will use materual gathered from an unprecedented 39-point ques

Black handsome bursting with muscle power and dignity His well-brushed coat shone At 17 hands he was the tallest horse in the 52nd nbsp Street stable where he and his companions were being ritually harnessed up around 9 a m for the day rsquo s work ahead Except for the few inevitable clumps

How much homework is too much What is a correct homework policy How do we distinguish the right kind of homework from quot busy work quot as students call much of it These questions come to mind as I reflect upon another education article nbsp in nbsp the October issue of nbsp The Atlantic In

Here are two items to mull over as we wait for election returns from across America First researchers have discovered that people who follow politics are not happy about being on the wrong side of election results From ldquo The Intense Well-Being Consequences of Partisan Identity rdquo PDF

International organizations which help people recover from disasters such as floods, famines and earthquakes are missing opportunities to achieve more, according to a new report commissioned by ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Tearfund. The report concludes that when international aid

Last week as regular readers know I asked people to recommend works in the field of spiritual autobiography or any book essay article in the genre of ldquo faith journey rdquo I supplied my initial list and I asked for additional selections both within the Roman Catholic Tradition and without

From the USCCB Three chairmen of U S bishops rsquo committees outlined their opposition to the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 ENDA in a letter to the U S Senate nbsp That letter sent to Senators on October 31 from Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton California chairman of t

No surprise dept Mohammed Morsi 39 s trial is a bit of a mess Pope Francis celebrated All Saints with a prayer for migrants who have died in attempted crossings to a better life Cutting food stamps is no way to balance the budget says Bread for the World 39 s David Beckmann In Iran Christians t

In addition to gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia several major cities elect mayors tomorrow including New York Houston Charlotte Detroit Boston and Seattle see the U S Conference of Mayors for a complete list This blog has already noted the ldquo glocalization rdquo theory

Cape Cod MA Some readers may have noticed in the October 30 New York Times the article by Tamar Lewin on the decline of the Humanities as a field of study at colleges and universities even large private universities such as Stanford and Princeton As she notes ldquo The future of the humanities

nbsp As strange as it may sound mdash because he was never absent and we did many things together mdash there was always a distance between my Father and me nbsp Maybe the space between us was the absence of words nbsp My life quickly ordered itself around language first talking and then readi

Why do we long for the whole?  We never find it in this life, yet we don’t stop seeking it.