A few years ago a Catholic friend who lives in a large northeastern city told me of visiting a church that had been closed for some time It was a grand and great old church where we had both been parishioners The diocese had started to auction off various pieces of art in the church to the highe

In preparation for Pope Benedict s visit to the United States next month Beliefnet the web s largest mainstream spirituality and religion website has nabbed David Gibson to blog regularly on B16 Gibson a former Vatican radio correspondent experienced religion journalist and author of b

Cambridge MA The March 22nd issue of The Tablet includes a fascinating record from our recent Catholic history the transcript of a 2003 conversation between Cardinal Franz K nig retired archbishop of Vienna and Fr Jacques Dupuis SJ a distinguished theologian who was at the time under sc

The last two weeks of the Democratic nominating contest have been dominated by two controversies neither of which have risen to the level of a scandal but both of which exhibited the potential to tarnish their victims indelibly Rev Jeremiah Wright s anti-American rants http www youtube com w

The doubting Thomas story was intended to be the final story of the Johannine Gospel Chapter 21 is a later addition to the Gospel The Gospel of John had begun on the highest note the Word which was God became equivalently Jesus of Nazareth Throughout the Gospel the author means to have h

Acts 2 42-47 remains an endlessly fascinating reminder of the call of Jesus reiterated by Paul in his letters that Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ part of God 8217 s family see 8216 My Beloved Brothers and Sisters 8217 Christian Siblingship in Paul 8217 by Reidar Aasgard

Last Monday the Democratic National Committee approved Puerto Rico s plan to change from a June 7 caucus to a June 1 primary After North Carolina and Indiana vote on May 6 Puerto Rico s 55 delegates will be the largest prize left News accounts and early analysis claim that Hillary Clinton

Who would you rather have a beer with John Adams or Benjamin Franklin That s one of the pressing questions Matt Malone addresses in the latest installment of his review of HBO s John Adams Part 3 focuses on Adams trip to France to woo the French court to the American cause Matt will be

Yesterday a Jesuit friend told me that the Easter Vigil at his parish was three hours and forty minutes Upon hearing this another friend remarked That pretty much leaves out anyone with children doesn t it For me and for most Catholics the Easter Vigil is the absolute summit of the litu

At first blush Pope Benedict s visit to the U S the week before the Pennsylvania primary should be bad news for Sen Clinton He will denounce abortion and she is backed by the most vocal pro-abortion groups in America He will denounce the Iraq War and coverage will recall that his predecessor

If you ve ever read the seemingly weekly surveys of American Catholics and then scratched your head at the results and thought Who in the world did they talk to then you might have fun participating in this new nationwide survey sponsored by Beliefnet the largest spirituality and religion w

In 1992 Bill Clinton demonstrated a self-critical stance towards an important constituency or a craven but brilliant capacity for political calculus when he denounced a hate-filled remark by the black singer Sister Souljah while addressing Jesse Jackson s Rainbow Coalition Clinton s aim was

Please join us in welcoming Valerie Schultz to our roster of bloggers Valerie is a regular contributor to America writing on a variety of topics related to family and parish life Her most recent article The Peculiar Grace of Failure recounted her struggles as a first-year teacher Here s a

Next month s Pennsylvania primary has taken on a disproportionate importance In fact as recently demonstrated by Jim Vandehei and Mike AllenClinton has almost no shot at winning the Democratic nomination Obama has already won a majority of the states and has an insurmountable lead in pledged de

Brazil experienced an economic boom in the late 1960s. With its gross national product growing handsomely at a rate of 7 percent to 8 percent, Brazil was praised by many development economists as an example of diversified, investment-led prosperity. But while the industries of Rio de Janeiro and Sã

Primum omnium first of all monita quaedam a few words of warning this book is not for the completely Latinless reader Though almost all the Latin tags and texts are translated many sections will baffle or bore anyone without at least a few faded memories of amo amas amat While popularly

Christians had been fleeing Iraq for years before the U.S. invasion in 2003. The ancient Assyrian Church of the East saw four-fifths of its members emigrate before 2000 and its ancient patriarchate transferred to Chicago. The government of Saddam Hussein persecuted the Assyrians because of their res

Pope Benedict and Peter's proclamation

Our old maple is half dead,

Geza Vermes' 'The Resurrection,' reviewed