In holding up what is praiseworthy and godly, atheists can be our allies.

Prayers for the PopeWith grace, courage and humility, Pope Benedict retired from the most difficult job in the world. In our Pope Francis, we already see similar grace and courage—and the humility to descend from his vehicle, on the way to his inaugural Mass at Saint Peter’s, to embrace

The idea is that when the public is informed, violations like this are far less likely to be repeated.

Christians escaping the two-year civil war in Syria will soon have their own humanitarian aid camp, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey reported. The separate camp for Christians is being built near Mor Abraham Syriac Monastery near the Turkish town of Midyat, about 30 miles f

Twelve years tick off changes in media as much as they replay the same horrible narrative of terror nbsp In 2001 we watched news camera clips on endless replay nbsp Today scenes from Boston are broadcast continuously but from the myriad angles of bystander smartphone uploads nbsp A decade f

Job crying out to God for an account of the tragedies that had befallen him and his family hears a response from the depths of the whirlwind Who is this who darkens counsel with words of ignorance nbsp Gird up your loins - now like a man I will question you and you tell me the answers Where we

During the homily of yesterday 39 s mass dedicated to Benedict XVI 16th who turned 86 Pope Francis offered a happily unnuanced endorsement of the ambitions of Vatican II noted efforts to quot turn the clock back quot and suggested the church needed to do more to complete quot everything the H

Those of us who love Boston those who were born there those who live there and especially those who were in Back Bay yesterday are still taking in the appalling scenes from yesterday rsquo s massacre nbsp Not only on the most enjoyable day of the year in Boston but also in the absolute heart

The events on Monday afternoon that have left three dead and more than one-hundred people injured near the finish line of the Boston Marathon are what the Trappist monk Thomas Merton might describe as quot The Unspeakable quot nbsp Merton meant several things when he used this term as the title o

The Archdiocese of Boston joins all people of good will in expressing deep sorrow following the senseless acts of violence perpetrated at the Boston Marathon today nbsp Our prayers and concern are with so many who experienced the trauma of these acts most especially the loved ones of those who li

Today the Vatican rsquo s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement about the ongoing oversight and ldquo reform rdquo to use their word of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious the main umbrella organization of women religious in the United States which represents r

How can we ever forgive Meryl Streep for making Margaret Thatcher lovable Maybe it is because she is an American actress and America can approach Margaret Thatcher with an innocence denied those of us who lived through her 11 years as prime minister nbsp Even before her forced exit from power Baro

A Vatican communique from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious COMMUNIQUE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH CONCERNING A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENCY OF THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN THE USA nbsp 15 04 2013To

In the first installment I set out the traditional Greco-Roman letter format and looked at the ldquo Judases rdquo and ldquo Jameses rdquo in the New Testament There seemed to be only one good option for whom the Judas Jude to whom this letter is attributed could be the Judas Jude who is the

Big news from the CNS blog nbsp below nbsp by Francis X Rocca on the Pope 39 s announcement of a committee to begin the reform of the Roman Curia and the announcement in L 39 Osservatore Romano nbsp of the move to revise the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus From CNS The Vatican Secretaria

I 39 ve been surprised lately by some people 39 s lack of faith that any change for the better is possible in the church a stance that seems in contradiction to the Easter message nbsp Here then is the way that Easter would have gone down with that attitude On the evening of that first day of

As some of our readers know we are posting weekly archive articles to www conciliaria com a Web site that is tracking the developments of Vatican II as they happened 50 years ago America readers may find these archive articles of interest so when appropriate we will also post them here to the b

This blog post on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was posted in April of last year Today is the 101th anniversary of the sinking In nbsp April of nbsp 1912 America had just celebrated its third year of publication Today we have reposted the editorial that appeared in our issue of

Here 39 s Kirsten Powers at USA Today wading through the incomprehensible horror show that is the Kermit Gosnell story in Philadelphia and wondering why there is quot precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page quot It 39 s easy to understand why any hu