Cambridge MA One of the bonuses of blogging for America is to read the comments that ensue on any given issue Not that I agree with all such comments of course and it is ok that the flow of debate among commenters sometimes travels far from the original posted piece as if it were merely an occ

Today the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time is also known as Respect Life Sunday nbsp There is a wonderful story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on September 9 2011 that is worth revisiting in this regard It is the story of a courageous young girl Bayza Weeks and the compassionate suppo

Tonight after the ldquo Pro-Queer Life rdquo Conference at Union Theological Seminary I have spent the evening in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan participating in the Occupy Wall Street protest that is showing surprising staying power since 17 September and gaining increasing media coverage

Are you hedging your bets Paul in Philippians imprisoned perhaps awaiting death by judicial decree is all in Throughout the letter joyous in tone and content Paul is clear that the life he has chosen as a follower of Jesus is not a life that that he lives with reservations or qualms Paul wi

We held the first conference in the More Than a Monologue series at Fordham University two weeks ago and videos from the conference are now available here The series continues today at Union Theological Seminary I look forward to seeing America readers there

A couple of CNS stories are worth reading today before we close out for the week In the first Tommaso Di Ruzza desk officer at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace OK I m not sure what that means either I m picturing someone in a naval uniform attempts to dispel the continuing confus

The U S bishops appear to be weary of a consistent reactive posture in recent years to swift changes in the nation s political and cultural landscape Responding to what a U S C C B press release described the persisitent erosion of religious liberty the bishops announced the formation of a new

Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi marked his 75th birthday yesterday a milestone that makes all those stories nbsp about him even more bizarre but Public Radio International notes that the Catholic Church in Italy is in no mood to celebrate Listen to the report here exploring h

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Jerome probably the greatest biblical scholar of the Patristic period and a Doctor of the Church Jerome was skilled in translation and is responsible for much of the translation of the Latin Bible that came to be known as the Vulgate He was conversant with the tran

Healing prayer is reviving among Catholics nbsp A long time leader in the healing ministry ex Dominican Francis McNutt has recently published ldquo The Practice of Healing Prayer nbsp A How-to-Guide for Catholics rdquo nbsp He also reports that his Christian Healings Ministry center is exp

I suspect Father Jim Martin won t be writing about this guy anytime soon but in South Korea he is apparently held in high regard On October 26 1909 in Harbin northeastern China Thomas An Jung-geun assassinated Ito Hirobumi Japan rsquo s first prime minister and the first Japanese resident gen

Here rsquo s how his first biographer Thomas of Celano records the encounter of St Francis of Assisi with the crucifix now famous but then hanging forlorn in the crumbling Umbrian church of San Damiano He write that Francis was walking one day by the church of San Damiano which was aband

Here rsquo s how his first biographer Thomas of Celano records the encounter of St Francis of Assisi with the crucifix now famous but then hanging forlorn in the crumbling Umbrian church of San Damiano He write that Francis was walking one day by the church of San Damiano which was abandoned

Vera Farmiga s directorial debut the film Higher Ground has been winning praise from some quarters nbsp Bryan McCarthy a candidate for a D Phil in theology nbsp at Oxford looks at how difficult it is for various kinds of reviewers to get this story of a free-spirited evangelical woman s

Cambridge MA As readers of this blog know many of my reflections on religions and dialogue come out of my personal study and teaching Occasionally though as professor and now Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions I get involved in interreligious learning and dialogue of a gr

A group of prominent Catholic theologians has posted on the Catholic Moral Theology website a petition against the death penalty in the wake of the execution of two men in Georgia and in Texas nbsp Their statement discusses the unfair application of the death penalty Studies have shown that bl

nbsp I am privileged to be a staff sponsor at a state prison for the self-help 12-step groups of AA and NA A staff sponsor is different from a program sponsor I am not a recovering alcoholic or addict who has a one-on-one relationship with another alcoholic or addict in order to facilitate work

A tongue-in-cheek guide for journalists on the Catholic beat offers a critique of papal media coverage in Britain s leading Catholic newspaper the Catholic Herald If in doubt be vague and waffly about the purpose of any protests ndash especially if there doesn rsquo t appear to be one Those

A report on an intriguing Jesuit initiative via Mirada Global The World Youth Day WYD is the major worldwide gathering of catholic young people initiated by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1984 Since then Buenos Aires Santiago de Compostela Czestochowa Denver Manila Paris Rome again in 2000