We realized in the new encyclical, “Laudato Si,'” what people haven’t talked about much is that Pope Francis has over 30 paragraphs that talk about politics and the role of politics. He speaks about creating an economy of inclusion. We realized that you can’t have an economy of inclusion without a politics of inclusion.
Judith Valente
Judith Valente, a regular contributor to NPR and "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly," is a journalist, poet and essayist. She is the author of Atchison Blue: A Search for Silence, a Spiritual Home and a Living Faith, named best spirituality book in paperback for 2014 by the Catholic Press Association and one of the three best spirituality books by Religion Newswriters Association. Her book, The Art of Pausing, was runner up for the Catholic Press Association book award in 2014.
Ms. Valente began her work as a staff reporter for The Washington Post. She later joined the staff of The Wall Street Journal, reporting from that paper's Chicago and London bureaus. She was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, first in the public service category as part of a team of reporters at The Dallas Times Herald in the 1980s. In 1993, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer in the feature writing category for her front page article in The Wall Street Journal chronicling the story of a religiously conservative father caring for his son dying of AIDS.
Posted inDispatches
A Reflection on the Writings of Joan Chittister
The Rule of St. Benedict, like aged sherry, is an acquired taste. Wisdom Distilled from the Daily not only gave me a taste of The Rule’s timeless wisdom, but a hunger and thirst for it.
Posted inDispatches
A small central Illinois community reflects big challenges for the pope
A small central Illinois community reflects big challenges for the pope
Posted inSigns Of the Times
Accused in Peoria
There is no standard procedure, no moral road map, for those left behind.
Posted inDispatches
Singing Benedictine monks hit high note With Those Looking For “Something More”
Their offering of Gregorian chant, Marian hymns and prayers and sung passages from The Rule of St. Benedict, has topped the Billboard charts in classical traditional music for several weeks in a row, captivating listeners far beyond this monastery’s walls.
Posted inSigns Of the Times
Making Room for All at Mass
If you attend Mass in Chicago, you might encounter a blind lector reading the day’s Scripture from a Braille lectionary while accompanied at the altar by a guide dog. You might receive communion from a eucharistic minister seated in a wheelchair. Through the SPRED (Special Religious Education)
Posted inDispatches
The Prayers That Jesus Knew: Abbot Gregory Reimagines the Psalms
‘Let’s make sure we don’t make our prayer too antiseptic.’
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Author Kathleen Norris talks about death, writing and the contemplative life
When I returned home in 1994 from a two-year posting as a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal I felt called to do something with my life other than journalism I just didn rsquo t know what A friend suggested I read Kathleen Norris rsquo Dakota A Spiritual Geography There rolled
Posted inSigns Of the Times
Seeking ‘Wholiness’
We can change the negative attitudes, self-images and behaviors that hold us back.
Posted inDispatches
Chicagoans Remember Cardinal Francis George as a Man of Kindness, Contradictions
The national Catholic community is remembering Cardinal Francis George who passed away Friday as a man of nbsp intelligence scholarship and leadership skills ndash with an often acerbic wit and penchant for controversial comments But for many of Chicago rsquo s 2 3 million Catholics George