NBC News is reporting that Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak the leader of twelve pro-life Democrats who have refused to support the final health care bill until their concerns were met has decided to vote yes on the health care bill Stupak was in negotiations with the White House and Health

As we come to the end of Lent Paul rsquo s soaring passage from Philippians 3 8-14 reminds us beautifully of the quot surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord quot 3 8 Paul imprisoned as he writes to the Philippians speaks of having quot suffered the loss of all things quot 3 8 s

Sacramento CA As Holy Week and Easter approach I will continue my wildly popular series of reflections on my Tamil love course with some reflections from a Christian perspective on the poetry of the 9th century south Indian Hindu saint Shatakopan He is one of the alvars like Tirumalisai Pi

I do not like the writings of the Anchoress Elizabeth Scalia over at her First Things blog I know that blogging invites hyper-ventilation in part because of some of the ridiculous things one reads on other blogs but hyper-ventilation is Scalia rsquo s only note It is as if all Bach rsquo s cho

Many commentators have denounced the process by which the health care reform has made its way through Congress There was the quot Cornhusker kickback quot which exempted the state of Nebraska from paying its share of Medicaid and other back room deals that are not uncommon in the legislative pro

It was probably too much to hope that our family squabble over the health care reform package nbsp could have been conducted without generating too much acrimony But the current divergence of thinking on health care reform though it may appear little more than a ball of confusion to many lay Catho

Father Jim Martin made another emergency spiritual call on Comedy Central as part of his side gig The Colbert Report chaplain This time Jim stopped by to explain a little about Catholic Social Teaching and why Glen Beck probably wouldn t make a good pope Colbert still doesn t seem to get it I do

I wrote earlier about the need to avoid recriminations in the current health care debate as it enters its final days Bishop Robert Lynch of St Petersburg Florida has given an exquisite and timely example of the kind of thoughtful commentary that I believe we need in these last days His stateme

I will be a guest on the NPR show Tell Me More with Michel Martin today to discuss Catholics and nbsp the health care debate Check your local listings or go to the website www npr org and click on programs then click on Tell Me More for an audio-recording Michael Sean Winters nbsp

No one knows the outcome of the health care vote ndash or even when the vote will happen ndash but already there is an air of recrimination in the air The stakes are high People know that this upcoming vote is not only important it is historic The sinful itch and it is a sin to begin looki

nbsp Here s John Allen at NCR on Benedict s nbsp past and future nbsp In a papacy sometimes marred by scandal and internal confusion Benedict s handling of the sexual abuse crisis has often been touted as a bright spot -- one case at least in which the expectations of the cardinals who electe

It seemed as if it was all over for the UK s 11 Catholic adoption agencies After the UK government passed legislation in 2007 making it impossible for adoption agencies in receipt of public funds to refuse same-sex couples the right to adopt one by one they folded declared independence from the d

From the Associated Press Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama s health care plan in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion Some 60 leaders of religious orders representing 59 000 Catholic nuns Wednesday sent lawmakers a letter urging

Cutting a cross into Irish soda bread dough before placing it in the oven serves both a scientific purpose and a spiritual one.

On Monday I made the argument that the differences between the House Stupak bill and the final Senate bill were so small as they relate to abortion that those differences should not be the ground for opposing the final Senate bill I directed my criticism at the USCCB and specifically at their p

I can write this because I m Irish Or more precisely half-Irish My dad s family hails from County Wexford if you re curious Anyway here goes Put St Patrick back in St Patrick s Day Now I m not saying that you shouldn t fish around in your closet for your favorite Irish sweater on March

These have been dark days for the church universal and I feel very discouraged about the news nbsp in Ireland and Germany which seems a repeat of Boston in 2002 nbsp That is why these words from Kieran Conry the bishop of Arundel and Brighton in the U K were so bracing nbsp Hearing a bishop

In this continuation of Jesus in Boulder I want to look at the claim that Jesus did on occasion turn people away as Fr Breslin writes in a recent Lenten meditation Then I want to discuss whether if Jesus turned people away nbsp did he turn away their children in addition First we must dete

There are still a few biblical issues in my mind regarding the recent decision to exclude two schoolchildren from the Catholic school at the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Boulder Colorado They are as follows is it for the children rsquo s benefit to turn them away from school in order that th

Prayer cards are nothing unfamiliar to most Catholics We get them after burying family and friends and sometimes to remind us of our devotion to a particular cause or saint Chances are you have one lying forgotten in a desk drawer or maybe on a bulletin board near your desk But as the Washi