If Pope Benedict is half as tired as I now feel at the end of the vigil in London s Hyde Park he will sleep well tonight -- after another punishing schedule at the close of his triumphant UK visit The Vigil -- which managed to resist being termed Pope in the Park -- was moving powerful and pr

From the October issue of the Atlantic an exhaustive profile of America rsquo s most powerful Catholic politico Vice President Joe Biden Writer Mark Bowden chronicles Biden rsquo s ascendency to President Obama rsquo s inner circle highlighting his transformation over the last two years from gaf

Pope Benedict XVI s four-day visit to the UK has so far been one long argument -- demonstrated in words deeds and symbolism -- against the secularist attempt to drive out faith from the public square But the argument has been accompanied by a call -- to Catholics to take their place in that square

At a Mass at Westminster Cathedral Pope Benedict has just spoken these words in his homily -- some of the strongest yet expressed on clerical sex abuse ldquo Here too I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children especially within the Church and by her ministers Above all I e

WESTMINSTER I ve just come out from Pope Benedict XVI s address to representatives of civil society in Parliament s Westminster Hall feeling like I ve witnessed a genuine historical moment The Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow told the Pope that what was once thought inconceiv

From the Tablet s blog by Catherine Pepinster editor in chief When the staff of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity were told on Tuesday that Cardinal Walter Kasper ndash their boss of 10 years who retired just a few weeks ago ndash would not be joining the papal visit to Br

TWICKENHAM Pope Benedict s UK campaign against secularism has continued this morning at a Catholic university college in south-west London where he has given three addresses which amplified the clear theme of this visit -- that pluralism depends on opening up to faith The first speech this morni

This week we have a video report on the short-term and long-term efforts to restore church artifacts and salvage church records in the Archdiocese of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina Archivists from around the country pitched in to save and catalogue items Watch the video below to learn more

Pope Sixtus V called it ldquo contrary to Christian charity rdquo The third Lateran Council proclaimed it ldquo a heresy rdquo worthy of excommunication Both Old and New Testaments denounced it as did Plato Aristotle Moses the Buddha and Muhammad The offensive practice Usury defined a

The Pope has continued with the argument he wants to have with British secularism at a joyous outdoor Mass attended by 70 000 in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow Scotland -- reprising a phrase which has come to define his pontificate nbsp The evangelization of culture is all the more important in our

British humanists have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict lumping together atheism and Nazism in his speech at Edinburgh As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the 20th century let us never forget how the exclusion of God religion and virtue from public life leads ul

Confounding the image of him created by the storm of criticism this past week in the British press Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Edinburgh this morning with his eyes downcast generating a warmth that seemed to spread through the crowds On the flight from Rome he spoke of his sorrow at clerical se

Highly nbsp nbsp unusual to say the least nbsp John Henry Newman s Feast will not be the day of his death as is traditional but his reception into the Roman church nbsp Is his entrance into the Roman Catholic Church more significant than his entrance into Heaven nbsp The story from CNS in

Dan Berrigan the peace activist and poet together with members of his Jesuit community in Lower Manhattan spent a week of prayer and reflection over Labor Day at the Kirkridge Retreat Center in Pennsylvania Kirkridge has long been a friend to those who strive for peace and has hosted over the y

About a week ago comedian Louis C K presented an episode of his FX show Louie entitled God It was a 22 minute riff on faith Abraham and Isaac the crucifixion and saying Jesus Christ as a curse Incredibly bawdy at some moments it s nevertheless extremely thought-provoking Louis C

Couldn t resist posting this from my friend Mike Rogers S J nbsp For all you Ignatius-lovers out there here is a tour of his rooms near at the Church of the Gesu in Rome nbsp Enjoy your ten-minute nbsp hand-held video nbsp pilgrimage nbsp nbsp And that music from The Mission by Ennio M

Cardinal Cardinal Theodore E McCarrick Archbishop Emeritus of Washington recently traveled to the Middle East and spoke with Iraqi refugees there In a powerful piece in the The New York Review Of Books he described his experience The humanitarian consequences of this seven-year war on Iraqi civ

In their new book ldquo The Grand Design rdquo Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow provide a theory that attempts to answer the question ldquo How did the universe begin rdquo The answer Well it rsquo s definitely not God In ldquo A Brief History of Time rdquo Hawking allowed

There s a story circulating on the internet today about an comment newly-minted Republican candidate for the Senate Sarah Pal er sorry Christine O Donnell made in 1998 on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher Now before I talk about the story a moment on the soap box Seriously media online

In a previous post on this blog I asked people for their comments on their favorite book of the Bible I received thought provoking responses with readers choosing the Gospel of John the Gospel of Luke the Gospel of Mark the Psalms and even Paul rsquo s short letter to Philemon If you have not