Pope’s New Encyclical, ‘Spe Salvi,’ Addresses Modern Crisis of Hope In an encyclical on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI said that without faith in God, humanity lies at the mercy of ideologies that can lead to “the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice.&#8221

Thank you for coming. My name is Bishop Pascal. I am the diocesan bishop of Heartlands, and I need your help. Let me first tell you my situation and some of the options that are being proposed to me for dealing with it. Then Ill welcome your suggestions or proposals. Our diocese has 83 parishes to s

Gift ideas from America Media.

There has been a great deal of anecdotal speculation about religious proclivities and spiritual seeking among so-called Generation X the children of the baby boomers Robert Wuthnow a professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of American Religion at Princeton University take

Summit in Annapolis, McCain's immigration wisdom, Housing crisis in New Orleans

In keeping with our longstanding custom every December we recommend an illustrated gift book or a special-edition work to our club members This month it is Art of the Cr egrave che Nativities From Around the World by James L Govan For more details on this book see my piece called Deck the Shel

Did you know that when I hug you, Mama, its not just me whos hugging you? God is hugging you too. In a sentence, our four-year-old theologian summed up the mystery of the Incarnation. The context for her declaration was not a Hallmark moment, nor were the circumstances like those of the birth of Chr

In Matthews story of the birth of Jesus, we learn that we can now put away fear and replace it with joy, because the promised one of God has come to live among us. Like any good writer, Matthew does not merely assert this major theme of his; he shows us what it means in the lives of different charac

Cambridge MA Allow me to introduce myself I am a Jesuit of the New York Province which I entered in 1968 at the old St Andrew s Novitiate just north of Poughkeepsie For over two decades I taught in the Theology Department at Boston College a very wonderful educational and theological en

Looking for holiday gift ideas Check out a selection of Christmas reading picks from America s editors now online and free to all Includes new books like Darwin s Angel John Cornwell s critique of Richard Dawkins and old favorites like Death Comes for the Archbishop and Mr Ives Christ

8220 Rejoice in the Lord always Again I say rejoice 8221 Phil 4 4 Reading or hearing these words of St Paul always make me recall the simple musical round that was popular a few decades ago composed by whom when nbsp It almost automatically brings a smile to my face and makes me want

That s what I wanted to know when my publisher used that phrase As it turns out a book trailer is only the latest way of introducing the webby Youtubey crowd to books It s like a trailer or a coming attraction for a new movie only for a new book Like movie trailers they re short

OK so the Catholic Book Club hasn t gone anywhere Every month since 1928 the CBC--as we fondly call it--has been picking the best in Catholic fiction and non-fiction for the benefit of America s readers first via a subscription mail service and now on the Web But we recently unveiled a newl

A classic American text John Graves s Goodbye to a River celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year This non-fiction work chronicles Graves s three-week trip down the Brazos River in Texas and along the journey Graves reflects on nature his own life and local history with remarkably cr

It is widely assumed in Jesuit circles that when the Jesuit electors meet in Rome for their thirty-fifth general congregation they will issue a document treating globalization and environmental issues The major first focus of GC35 will be of course to elect a new superior general of the Jesuits

Yesterday National Public Radio s show On Point produced by WBUR in Boston arranged a conversation on The Golden Compass with Hanna Rosin the journalist who wrote a terrific piece in The Atlantic Monthly that told the story of the way that the film s producers grappled with the controv

I m not sure what s worse about this story Nun Reads List of Curse Words to Kids That it was listed on MSN com s home page as one of the top stories of the day That so far 86 news organizations have picked it up Or that it caters to the same hoary anti-Catholic stereotypes about women re

Some of you may know that America s former editor Thomas Reese S J is a contributor to On Faith a blog co-sponsored by Newsweek and the Washington Post Well here s Fr Reese on Mitt Romney s speech on religion and politics Governor Mitt Romney s speech shows the importance of havi

Christmas reading recommendations from our literary editor.