James Martin, S.J.

The LA Religious Ed Congress is not only a great place to hear fascinating speakers the most popular for the past few years seems to be Timothy Radcliffe O P the former master general of the Dominicans an unassuming and friendly man ho draws huge crowds with his talks on spirituality but also

One of the benefits of spending a little time in another part of the country means that you see how Catholics elsewhere do things and do things very well Last night I participated in an innovative adult-ed program called The University which is based in the northern part of the Archdiocese

What is it about modern church architecture that drives so many Catholics to distraction Admittedly there are some real clunkers out there in Catholicland Typically when I m driving through a new town I can often spot the Catholic church if it s been built somewhere around the 1950s or 196

It s sometimes rather difficult for a celibate man–a priest no less–to figure out what types of books articles essays and blogposts might appeal to mothers and fathers but this one I feel has a good shot of doing so since it was recommended by not only The New York Times in an article

With all the commentary flying around the blogosphere about Pope Benedict s message to the Jesuit General Congregation it s helpful now to read an unofficial translation of the pope s full message to the Society which while strongly urging obedience to the Word of God and the Magist

Today Pope Benedict XVI received the delegates of the 35th General Congregation in the Sala Clementina in the Vatican for a meeting that lasted one-half hour The pope began his comments by thanking Father Kolvenbach for his service and as the official GC35 site describes The Pope also urged

St Patrick s Day–or as it s known in the Ordo the Feast of St Patrick–falls for the first time since 1940 during Holy Week Not surprisingly that means no Masses in honor of the patron saint of Ireland that is the man born Patricius in Roman Britain on March 17 A few Catholic bisho

This is a long post but a few commentators have asked about the news of the death this weekend of Walter J Burghardt S J the great theologian writer and well-known preacher Here is the official obituary from the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus which does a fine job of summing

Reports on the Vatican s new 86-page document on the procedures for canonization may have left some Catholics and their non-Catholic friends scratching their heads Essentially the Congregation for the Causes of saints responding to widespread concern that the saint-making process had gotten