The cover of this week s Economist above says it well This is America s image today a culture wherein the solution to any problem from an imagined insult to a paranoid fear of big government is resolved at gun point nbsp Blame movies and TV crime shows where the heroes and bad guys all tote

Why should a biblical scholar take note of canon law We might equally ask why should the blogging son of a canon lawyer suddenly push onto the front stage an article written by his father almost six years ago Why now Thomas Peters who calls himself ldquo American Papist rdquo published a few

You ve probably read about Fr Alberto Cutie s new book Dilemma in which he recounts his leaving of the Catholic priesthood to marry and his subsequent joining of the Episcopal Church nbsp The Diane Rehm Show invited me on this morning to speak about celibacy along with Fr Cutie whose book is

The Archdiocese of Boston released a new non-discrimination policy for Catholic schools last week The Boston Globe reports The Archdiocese of Boston under fire from all sides after a parochial school withdrew an admissions offer to the child of a lesbian couple yesterday released a new Catholi

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Each Gospel has its own way of presenting what each thought necessary to know about Jesus that John the Baptist was a witness to the identity of Jesus nbsp John s witness was extremely powerful because John was so greatly admired by everyone nbsp Though he did not beco

Archbishop Vincent Nichols concluding this morning s hugely long and solemn ordination Mass allowed himself an inpromptu remark This was an extraordinary moment he told a packed congregation of 2 000 at Westminster Cathedral adding This is how church history is made The liturgy was unexce

The good news out of Tucson is that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues to improve Doctors report that she has been making spontaneous movements Trauma surgeon Dr Peter Rhee told reporters at the University Medical Center in Tucson She is getting better every day She was able to actua

Readers of the print edition will be familiar with what we at America call the OMT mdash Of Many Things the weekly column that runs on page two of the magazine The OMT is venue for the editors particulary the editor-in-chief to comment on current events in a less formal sometimes more opinion

The Pope rsquo s recent comments on purgatory were extremely helpful His statement on purgatory helped to clarify the reality of purgatory not as a place but as a process but also simply any comment on the reality of purgatory is helpful From a news report on the Pope rsquo s comments we receiv

Dan Ortlund a senior editor in the bible division at Crossway Books recently posed an interesting question to a few folks he described as thoughtful scholars and pastors What s the message of the Bible in one sentence Answers from the all male group ranged from somewhat lengthy and interp

A miracle confirmed and a date set From the New York Times Pope Benedict XVI moved his beloved predecessor one step closer to sainthood on Friday confirming a miracle by John Paul II and setting May 1 as the date of his beatification Benedict said in a decree on Friday that a French nun had b

The referendum in Sudan is continuing but crossed a key threshold today Organizers confirmed that the turnout percentage needed for the vote to be considered valid has been reached Chan Reec referendum commission deputy chairman told Al Jazeera news At the end of the fourth day of polling wit

In my NT class this week we discussed the Gospel of Matthew the ecclesial Gospel which alone amongst the four Gospels actually uses the word ldquo ekklesia rdquo or Church We had some interesting discussions about the nature and exercise of authority in the Church and students are often surpri

Jake Martin SJ our resident TV critic offers nbsp his take nbsp on what TV Guide often calls The Best Shows You re Not Watching nbsp If you ve never seen any of them or turn your nose up at the word sitcom Martin a teacher of theology and theater at Loyola Academy in Wilmette Ill gives

An article in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality outlines a study on Folk Conceptions of Virtue Among Cambodian Buddhists and Christians A Hermeneutic Analysis Of the many immigrant peoples who have come to the United States in recent years Cambodian American culture is a signi

From Envio magazine via Mirada Global Towards the end of the 20th century there was a transition in the seas equivalent to that of the Neolithic with the development of aquaculture How did we get this far Where are the captured species most endangered And who benefits mdash and benefit mdash m

Michael O rsquo Loughlin noted here last week that the devil will be making an appearance on television in the fall The Exorcist Files will recreate stories of real-life hauntings and demonic possession based on cases investigated by the Catholic Church Meanwhile in England Jonathan Tulloch upd

What does the Good Word have to say to current political events in the USA Not much in some ways but everything in other ways for the Bible has a lot to say about speech its purposes and misuses The Bible fascinatingly nowhere mentions the Democrats or Republicans though I am pretty certain

Jon Stewart and his Daily Show are known at this point for their ability to reveal the contradictions in political spin and cable news speak and to provide some catharsis in the midst of frustrating or bizarre social and political developments nbsp Usually they do it in a way intended to make the