Denis Murphy

When Pope Benedict XVI was elected, and celebrated his inaugural Mass last year, I was in India. Later I visited Thailand and Laos. In all three countries the events in Rome were well covered in the local mediaperhaps less thoroughly in Laosthough only about 1 percent of the populations of these cou

Philippine politicians and Catholic bishops seem adrift in their separate ships. The political ship is listing; the lights are going out, and every sensible person on board knows the ship is in serious trouble. The bishops’ ship, on the other hand, is fully lit; the passengers are comfortable;

With Cardinal Jaime Sin sick and plans in the works to divide the present archdiocese into six smaller dioceses, church affairs in Manila, Philippines, are at a standstill. This provides an opportunity to reflect on what the church should be about once the changes are made.Will the proposed changes

The violence of the urban poor in the march on Manila’s presidential palace last May 1 shook the Philippine government, as well as the wider Filipino society. It convinced them that something had to be done quickly for the poormuch as the African-American riots precipitated a response in the U