Correct but Uncertain Re “Uninformed Conscience,” by John F. Kavanaugh, S.J. (6/ 21): The author says, quoting Aquinas, that conscience may be certain but not correct. It strikes me that conscience can also be correct but not certain! This dilemma is caused by the convergence of moral ob

Small-scale fixes may be more successful than comprehensive immigration reform.

The key to changing minds and converting hearts is better access to information right nbsp Wouldn t everyone think just like me us if they weren t just so ignorant of the relevant data This interesting essay by Joe Keohane in the Boston Globe from July 11 suggests that the reverse is often the c

I rsquo ve been brooding since Ross Douthat named so well the anxiety that many have felt throughout the year that the Catholic Church rsquo s credibility has reached a historically significant tipping point See the discussion at Peter Steinfel s blog at Commonweal As I watched the media storm r

Until this summer rsquo s vacation I had never been to Chamonix a thin strip of a town in France rsquo s Savoy region that straddles a narrow river valley between the highest peaks in the Alps Chamonix is home to Europe rsquo s highest point mdash Mont Blanc Though for some reason I had expected

From a U S C C B press release WASHINGTON mdash Archbishop Donald W Wuerl of Washington Chairman of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops USCCB responded to a clarification from the Vatican that raised the attempted ordination of a women to a ldquo mor

Long flights of massive stone steps that grace buildings of an earlier era ndash they offer opportunities for viewing the world below on city streets and sidewalks Several such flights stand out in cities like New York Their upper reaches provide not only a place to rest and perhaps enjoy a brown

They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters These see the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep Psalm 107 nbsp Reality television usually contains little that is real nbsp For some years ldquo The Real World rdquo the progenitor of many American

The vuvuzelas have finally quietened writes David Holdcroft SJ the regional director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Southern Africa and former director in South Africa in Eureka Street today 64 games three million spectators one million visitors and 40 billion rand A 6 billion later t

Austen Ivereigh has already weighed in below on the new Vatican norms on sexual abuse pornography and the attempted ordination of women nbsp nbsp This morning in a nbsp media advisory announcing two press conferences the USCCB summed up the two features of the revisions nbsp bound to be th

Among the 17 modifications to its canonical norms dealing with grave crimes gravioribus delictis against the sacraments announced today the Vatican has extended the time allowed for a case against a priest for sexual abuse from 10 to 20 years from a victim s 18th birthday and has speeded the pr

Marlborough MA I was invited to speak last evening at an appearance in one of the Boston suburbs of the famous modern Indian teacher Mata Amritanandamayi literally ldquo the mother rdquo ldquo the one entirely composed of bliss in the imperishable rdquo mdash Amma mother who tours the

As I read this morning rsquo s newspaper I was taken aback by a question that applies to two very different criminal cases Just what is a speedy trial today And what does that constitutional guarantee mean to those of us who depend on it nbsp The first story concerns Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani wh

Certainly America and in large part the profession of psychology advocates for fair treatment and equal opportunity for women in the Church and society But even despite laws and efforts of many people of goodwill inequities exist The 20th century was replete with movements across the globe to f

Phoenix AZ-- ldquo The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few rdquo the Lord tells us in the Gospel last Sunday ldquo so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest Luke 10 2 rdquo It rsquo s an observation that takes on a curious double meaning in Arizona the

A powerful story from The Boston Globe today Tucked into the benches at the Parish of the Incarnation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the last Sunday in June was a letter written by the Rev James A Field Diagnosed two years earlier with pancreatic cancer he had news to share in Melrose t

Former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin recently appeared on FOX News with Bill O rsquo Reilly to discuss immigration in the United States O rsquo Reilly posed this question If Palin were president could she solve the immigration problem O rsquo Reilly then goes on to ldquo interview rdquo Palin

We are very pleased to feature Fr Virgilio Elizondo on this week s podcast A professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame who still does pastoral work in his home diocese of San Antonio Fr Elizondo has just published his selected spiritual writings with Orbis Books On the podcast he d

Pope Benedict XVI s homecoming offer to Anglican opponents of women bishops looks more enticing now that the Church of England Synod has rejected a proposal for a separate jusrisdiction to accommodate them The scheme put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York was voted down by the Church

Last week I was at St Catherine s College Oxford for a research colloquium on the study of religion in everyday life The meeting was one in a multi-part set of colloquia from last fall through this past summer that were organized by Dr Gordon Lynch of the University of London Birkbeck a we