James Martin, S.J.

The pope s choice for auxiliary bishop of Linz Austria has withdrawn his name from consideration after a firestorm erupted after nbsp the priest s nbsp comments about Hurricane Katrina which he said was God s punishment on the people of New Orleans for their sins and homosexuality which

At least he rsquo s not saying that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene that Opus Dei murders people and that the Va tican has misled believers about Christ for 2 000 years nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Here rsquo s a trailer and behind-the-scenes look at the new Ron How

One of the great human rights advocates of the past few decades Alison Des Forges who worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Rwanda and was certainly the world s leading expert on the genocide there in 1994 has died in the plane crash outside of Buffalo yesterday evening nbsp If you re

A reader nbsp wrote to let us know that the Society of St Pius X has quietly removed from their website the article The Mystery of the Jews which we referenced in a blogpost a few days ago and which asserted that Judaism was inimical to Christian nations responsible for the death of Jesus a

The Vatican s Secretariat of State nbsp has issued an official nbsp statement on the Society of St Pius X this morning here nbsp nbsp nbsp It has nbsp a clear message The acceptance of Vatican II and the authority of the last five popes is an indispensable condition for full communion for t

The statement of Francis Cardinal George president of the USCCB on the lifting of the ban of excommunication on the four bishops of the nbsp Society of St Pius X Statement of Cardinal Francis George President USCCBPope Benedict XVI has lifted the personal penalty of excommunication incurred by f

David Gibson has nbsp a story that has been percolating on the web for the last few days about the late founder of the ultraconservative Legionaries of Christ Father Marcial Maciel Degollado who had been publicly sanctioned in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI after an extensive investigation of charges

Here is something new nbsp Michael Paulson of the Boston Globe notes that the new Catholic cathedral in Oakland California includes a memorial to victims of sexual abuse by clergy Here is Paulson The new lakeside cathedral here commands attention with its oval shape and glass and steel sheat

The ongoing debate over Pope Benedict s decision to lift the ban of excommunication on four bishop-members of the Society of St Pius X has been split into to general discussions First the currently nbsp more explosive issue of the reception of Bishop Williamson into nbsp full communion with