There are few people who are more excited about the pope s visit than Stephen Colbert who actually has tickets to the Mass at Yankee Stadium as he explains in this clip Mr Colbert as many of our viewers readers know is in fact Catholic James Martin SJ

I recently made a Holy Week retreat at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale Arizona known locally as the Casa which is short for La Casa de Paz y Bien The title is descriptive Since this was the first retreat I have made in a very long time I regret to say I was not sure whether to

The culture of campaign consultants and the layer of control it places between the people and their elected officials has changed and diminished our democracy in important ways But democracy is only as good as the voters want to make it If we the electorate put up with air-brushed answers to

From April 30 Second Sunday of Easter to but excluding Pentecost Sunday the Gospel readings of the Eucharist this year are all but one Luke c 24 taken from John s Gospel Given this attention to John in our Eastertide celebrations it might be of service to consider the principle by which

Besides our special coverage on our blog and later in the pages of the magazine some of America editors will be assisting with the media coverage of Pope Benedict s visit to the United States James Keane S J will be working with Fox News Radio during the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium Ji

Even if you re not watching HBO s excellent John Adams miniseries be sure to read Matt Malone s weekly commentary Matt s essays go beyond the ordinary thumbs up thumbs down criticism to explore what the series says about our nation s founding ideals and our own political moment In

The culture of campaign consultants is vile but not only because of the conflicts-of-interest and the greed and the narrow focus on winning over discrete groups of the electorate with particular tailored messages that do little to enlighten on the real problems facing the electorate The problem i

Don t miss Bill McGarvey s terrific interview on the Bustedhalo website with Timothy Radcliffe OP the former master general of the Dominicans and one of the most lucid of all Catholic writers And speakers Radcliffe is consistently one of the biggest draws at the LA Religious Ed Congres

N T Wright one of the greatest and certainly most prolific Bible scholars in the world has touched a nerve with his new book Surprised by Hope Rethinking Heaven the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church What happens when we die How should we think about heaven hell purgatory an

In his column in this week s America Fr John Kavanaugh takes another look at the infamous speeches of Jeremiah Wright and warns against dismissing his criticisms of U S society as the rantings of a crackpot In Friday s Los Angeles Times Michael Eric Dyson draws an intriguing comparison bet

Accompanying the pope s video message released today is this report from Catholic News Service Here is the Vatican text of Pope Benedict XVI s message in English and Spanish to Catholics in the United States The pope will visit the U S April 15-20 Dear brothers and sisters in the Un

Yesterday we discussed the fall of Clinton strategist Mark Penn as a good first step in undermining the culture of campaign consultants and the sad realization that there is unlikely to be a second such step In this morning s Washington Post E J Dionne calls attention to the other nefarious e

The demotion of Clinton campaign pollster and strategist Mark Penn illustrates a broader sickness in the political world that sadly will survive Penn s saga The single worst development within American politics over the past 40 years has been the professionalization of politics and the rise of

That is the nation not the magazine David Van Biema and Jeff Israely two of the most insightful religion journalists working today ask that question in an extremely provocative and counterintuive cover story in Time this week The American Pope Their argument is that the American brand

Over on his blog Benedictions David Gibson has a charming piece about the visit to the Vatican of Charlton Heston who died yesterday after a long and varied career playing saints presidents and other assorted geniuses Gibson was working for Vatican radio at the time Heston at the Vatican

As any sentient Catholic knows there are often internecine battle in American parishes between contemporary and traditional music Those on the contemporary side argue that music should reflect the times A similar argument is advanced by those who favor modern architecture for church bu

nbsp One of the fun things about observing politics is that you get to see on an almost daily basis fallen human nature trying to wrap itself in glory Politics is a land of vice not virtue no matter how many speeches you hear about the nobility of public service Ambition pride envy malice

The Vatican announced yesterday that Pope Benedict would meet briefly with Jewish leaders during his trip to Washington and New York City this month At the same time perhaps in preparation for the possible opposition from Jewish leaders on the language of the Good Friday prayers that are part

Are Democrats deciding to end the race for their party s presidential nomination For the first time Senator Barack Obama has overtaken Senator Hillary Clinton in a poll of Pennsylvania primary voters Obama now leads Clinton by two points in a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling an opin