The past week has been a difficult one for blogging as final papers and final exams pour in It is not necessarily an onerous task it is just that there is so much Writing on the Scripture even in a blog format requires time and thought and for the next week or so that will be given over to gra

Kathleen McChesney served as the first executive director of the newly established Office for Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Her analysis of the John Jay report which was officially released yesterday has just been posted to our Web site The r

Most Rev Thomas J Tobin Bishop of Providence is urging state lawmakers to defeat civil union legislation in Rhode Island The Providence Journal reports In a statement Tobin said I encourage members of the General Assembly to vote against the civil unions legislation currently being consid

The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States 1950-2010 A Report Presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by the John Jay College Research Team is now available online here at the USCCB website

There is something rather retro and quaint about the 10-day gathering of 17 Catholic and Anglican bishops and theologians which begins at a monastery in northern Italy today Bose is a community of both men and women made up of both Anglicans and Catholics founded in the 1970s when there was talk

The torture debate among second-tier GOP hopefuls continues with a surprising choice of words from former Sen Rick Santorum Check out this exchange between radio host Hugh Hewitt and Santorum bold mine HH Now your former colleague John McCain said look there rsquo s no record there rsquo

lt lt The American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision DSM-IV-TR criteria for Pedophilia 302 2 are A Over a period of at least 6 months recurrent intense sexually arousing fantasies sexual urges or behaviors invol

The new John Jay Report on the causes and contexts of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church includes a finding that will probably surprise many observers.

A report prepared by researchers from New York rsquo s John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the abuse of children by Catholic priests in the United States offers a complex portrait of the reasons that led to the sexual assaults that will probably not satisfy anyone looking for simple answers or e

Our latest Web only article looks at the Byzantine Church s transition to a new liturgical translation The author the Rev Michael N Kane is pastor of a Byantine church in Florida and a professor at Florida Atlantic University Several years ago the Byzantine-Ruthenian Church in the United Stat

This weekend I was honored to be invited to deliver the Baccalaureate Address at the University of Pennsylvania my alma mater nbsp So I decided to tell the Class of 2011 a little about not taking themselves so seriously nbsp This is is a religious event so let me begin with a parable There s a

The National Research Council of the National Academies released a report on May 12 in another addition nbsp to the scientific consensus on the reality of climate change and the various hazards posed by the phenomenon According to the report the last in the ldquo America rsquo s Climate Choices r

It s usually pretty hard to get excited about Queen Elizabeth II visiting other countries The four-day visit she began today however is different Ireland shares a language a border and an awful lot of history with the UK yet this was the first visit by a British monarch in more than 100 years

During a canon law class in 1965 I noticed that the professor rsquo s notes listed publications that were either ldquo forbidden rdquo or which we should approach with caution On the list was The Nation Somewhere I had also read that America had been founded over 100 years ago to offset the

Surprising news or at least surprisingly blunt news from CNS Pope s reform of the reform in liturgy to continue cardinal saysCatholic News Service nbsp nbsp By John Thavis VATICAN CITY CNS -- Pope Benedict XVI s easing of restrictions on use of the 1962 Roman Missal known as the Tridentin

From Mensaje magazine via Mirada Global a strong critique of France s decision to prohibit women from wearing the burka in public Respecting freedom of religion is respecting human rights Considering the differences between secularity and religion implies entering into a dialogue respecting fre

A brief but interesting article in the New York Times Magazine this weekend noted the economic differences among the various religious denominations in the United States Of course education plays a role too The most affluent of the major religions mdash including secularism mdash is Reform

The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith CDF has written to the world s 5 000 Catholic bishops asking them to introduce clear and coordinated procedures for dealing with clerical sex abuse allegations and laying out the principles which should govern them Cardinal William

We print here the full text of a Circular Letter dated 3 May and released today which has been sent to all bishops by Cardinal William Levada prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith laying out the considerations governing local bishops conference guidelines on the handling of