Robert Mickens the Tablet s prolific correspondent kindly sent us this special report from the Vatican on the much talked about meeting between the pope and the Irish bishops prompted by that church s widening sex abuse scandal ROBERT MICKENS Special to America ROME ndash Act I of a Vatican-o

Mother Mary Clare Millea answered a number of questions from NCR s John Allen recently and the conversation is worth reading Allen asks some great questions about the next steps the cost of the visitation and whether Cardinal Rode already has made up his mind about the state of Religious life in

I mentioned nbsp below nbsp the wonderful news of the first canonization of a member of the storied Congregation of the Holy Cross Andre Bessette but Pope Benedict XVI also formally announced nbsp the upcoming canonizations nbsp on October 17 nbsp of the amazing Mother Mary McKillop about whom

The Vatican is hardly a site where intrigue is unknown but a recent effort to discredit Archbishop Rino Fisichella nbsp has managed to raise some eyebrows A letter has been circulated among various media outlets calling for Fisichella s removal Signed by five members of the Pontifical Academy for

Wonderful wonderful nbsp news from the Congregation of the Holy Cross whose press release I m reprinting in full Known popularly as the miracle man of Montreal Brother Andr eacute Bessette C S C -an unassuming porter who became legendary for his ministry to the sick and needy of Montreal-was

A friend of mine who works with priests with serious addictions tells me that the first thing you have to know when working with addicts who are right out of rehab is that they are going to lie to you They are going to try and charm you nbsp To me it sounded a little harsh 30 60 90 days or mo

My colleague and friend Father Jim Martin S J posted below on the subject of EWTN s Cafeteria Catholicism regarding torture He included a clip of a recent interview in which Raymond Arroyo discusses the use of torture with Marc Thiessen who just wrote a book of agitprop defending the use of

It has been quite a long time since we have been able to write about good things happening in Pakistan Yet the recent arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar the Afghan Taliban rsquo s 2 and two Taliban governors of Afghan provinces is more than a stroke of good luck It shows an increasing degr

It has been a week of movement in the often arcane world of Anglican traditionalists seeking a home in Rome The Australian branch of Forward in Faith -- the main association of Anglo-Catholic priests -- has become the first group within the Anglican Church to vote to accept the Pope s ordinariate o

One of the great members of our editorial staff one of the great Jesuit priests and one of the greatest men I have ever known has died at age 92 John W Donohue S J began as an associate editor at America with our April 1 1972 issue and finished with our June 25 2007 issue It is impossible

A new CARA study shows that Catholics students attending Catholic colleges are less likely to stop attending Mass than those who attend public universities but the results also reflect a diversity of viewpoints on social and political issues among young Catholics The study surveyed 14 527 students

Liberal Catholics are often said to twist the church s teaching or disregard it completely to suit their own needs--particularly on matters of sexuality and church authority nbsp We are nbsp sometimes accused of nbsp that here at America and on this blog nbsp Cafeteria Catholic is an ep

One of my favorite on-air moments came during last Sunday rsquo s edition of Meet the Press when Rachel Maddow confronted Congressman Aaron Schock R-IL The congressman who was voted cutest member of Congress not the smartest member of Congress was busy attacking the Stimulus Bill passed a

There are many ways in which Paul speaks of what Christ has done for us justification transformation glorification redemption salvation freedom and reconciliation There are more terms which Paul uses but I want to focus on reconciliation which is used in the Second Reading for Ash Wednesda

For those of you who are fans of the Britcom Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister and I m not the least of these to paraphrase St Paul you ll enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at life at 10 Downing Street in which Tony Blair was amused to find himself seemingly stuck in that 1980s sitcom

New to the Web this week a slideshow of photographs depicting life in the the Mexican province of Oaxaca past and present Thanks to Robert Joe Stout author of iquest Adonde Vas Mexico Feb 22 for providing the pictures View the slideshow On this week s podcast Kathy Saile the director o

I have been meaning to call attention to a special investigative report done by CNN on the on-going scandal in Vieques a small island off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico You can watch the report here It is heartbreaking Vieques was a proving ground for munitions run by the U S Navy for many ye

Here s a nbsp very brief video nbsp I did last year for Loyola Press who asked me to speak on what it might mean to be joyful during Lent traditionally a sad time nbsp Here is my nbsp suggestion nbsp We at America join with you in prayer during this Lent that we may all draw closer to Chris

We don t normally advertise upcoming events but this one looks great nbsp Bringing together a wide variety of voices on the question of abortion is this conference at Princeton University nbsp Check out the participants Open Hearts Open Minds and Fair Minded Words A Conference on Life and Cho