Fans of the monk writer Thomas Merton are often surprised to find how low in the esteem of other monks he was sometimes held In the fascinating memoir by Rembert Weakland OSB former Abbot Primate of the Benedictines and Archbishop of Milwaukee until his dramatic resignation in 2004 you find for

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp We read in the Gospel that Jesus cured a deaf and dumb man and Jesus responded by curing him nbsp The account of this healing continues Mark s intentional presentation of miracle after miracle nbsp As the powers of Jesus overwhelm the variety of evils human beings so of

There is a purity of purpose in the writing of James This Sunday rsquo s Second Reading James 2 1-5 gets to the heart of how the Christian message is meant to transform daily behavior and the always roiling issue of wealth and poverty It is worth reading in full My brothers and sisters show no

Cambridge MA This is the last of my five planned reflections on my trip to India this time about my research Thanks to everyone who has contacted me through our ldquo comments section rdquo and off-line nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp While I indicated at the start that this was not to be research

Missionary Intention Christians in Laos Cambodia and Myanmar That by placing their trust in the strength of the Holy Spirit Christians in Laos Cambodia and Myanmar who often confront great difficulties will not lose the courage to proclaim the Gospel to their brothers and sisters It is gene

General Intention Word of God be better known That the Word of God may be better known accepted and lived as the one true source of freedom and joy There are some Christians who know the Bible backwards and yet are unhappy They can give you chapter and verse and quote long passages by heart and

I almost feel sorry for Deal Hudson His world is crashing down or at least that is the impression one garners from reading his post of a few days back about the presence of two princes of the Church at the obsequies for Sen Kennedy and the almost simultaneous resignation of Scranton rsquo s Bisho

Ouch nbsp The new issue of the nbsp Chronicle of Higher Education has a nbsp brutal critique of Google s controversial online library project less because of its oft-criticized intellectual property grab than for its incredibly shabby fact-checking nbsp A quick look at some of the more obvious

Two regional directors of the Legionaries of Christ -- which is not quite the same as their Director General -- have apologised to the sexual abuse victims of the organisation s founder Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado and say that the Legion is on a long road of healing and reconciliation with those

Jim Fisher is a professor of history at Fordham University and author of the forethcoming On The Irish Waterfront In the latest video produced by americamagazine org Jim reports from the banks of the Hudson River in New York City where he tells the story of the Jesuit labor priests and the making

The editor of a widely-read Italian daily newspaper owned by the bishops has resigned after a week of vitriolic attacks on him by powerful relatives and allies of Silvio Berlusconi the erratic authoritarian 72-year-old premier Dino Boffo s crime was to have criticised in the pages of Avvenire B

In Cardinal Sean O rsquo Malley rsquo s Blog entry On Senator Kennedy rsquo s Funeral one line stood out for me our task is to build a civilization of love This has ever been the task of the Church especially when teaching hard truths that run counter to the tenor of the culture and the politi

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City Kansas and Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City Missouri issued a joint pastoral letter on health care reform yesterday The text has caused quite a bit of controversy already because it deviates so starkly from the statements coming from the Bishops rsquo Co

Boston rsquo s Cardinal Sean O rsquo Malley usually puts up his weekly blog entry on Friday afternoon But Wednesday night he put up his thoughts about the funeral for Sen Kennedy and the controversy his own participation caused You can read the Cardinal rsquo s reflections here

Washington rsquo s Archbishop Donald Wuerl is confronting the City Council rsquo s push to legalize same-sex marriage He sent a letter to his clergy re-iterating the Church rsquo s position on the uniqueness and importance of traditional marriage gave a set of interviews and is joining hands with

What do you get when you cross a nbsp top-flight theologian with one of the summer s hottest movies nbsp This provocative review of the sci-fi hit District 9 by Fr Robert Barron now on our online Culture section nbsp The new movie about a ragtag band of lost malnourished aliens nbsp who in

George Will has a provocative article in this morning rsquo s Washington Post in which he says it is time to get out of Afghanistan The article is a response to the arrival in Washington of a report from Gen Stanley McChrystal sent to Afghanistan by President Obama to assess the situation and mak

Relations between the Church and the disgraced Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi are fast dropping below zero Scheduled talks with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone -- the Pope s number two -- have been cancelled following extraordinary attacks by Il Giornale owned by Berlusconi s brother Paolo on the ed