Domestic Abuse, Death and Lovin’: How Not to Make Socially Conscious Super Bowl Ads

by Jim McDermott February 1, 2015

A few hours before the Super Bowl I happened upon some tweets from the Ignatian Solidarity Network opining over the kinds of advertisements they wish we rsquo d see during the game ndash ads about how climate change is real or the need for comprehensive immigration reform They even did some moc

Dispatches

Mercy or Madness? Freeing Eugene de Kock in South Africa

by Russell Pollitt, S.J. February 1, 2015

Notorious apartheid-era death squad commander given parole after 20 years behind bars.

Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Conn., center, wears his new pallium as he leaves in procession at the conclusion of a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis to mark the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican June 29.

Dispatches

Pope Decides Pallium Will Be Given to Metropolitan Archbishops in Home Dioceses

by Gerard O’Connell January 28, 2015

Pope Francis has decided that the public ceremony of investiture of the Pallium on Metropolitan Archbishops will henceforth take place in the prelates rsquo home dioceses and not in the Vatican as has been the case under recent pontiffs He believes that in this way the ceremony quot will greatly f

A man bows his head as St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson leads a prayer vigil for peace at January-Wabash Park in Ferguson, Mo., last November.

Dispatches

Dispelling Some Myths About Ferguson – Part 2

by Judith Valente January 27, 2015

Local pastor sees “a very diverse community working together, acting together.”

Dispatches

Cardinal Rodriguez on Christian Martyrdom Today

by Jim McDermott January 23, 2015

A final quote from Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez given during the Q amp A after his talk quot The Meaning of Mercy quot at Santa Clara University For the full video of his talk click here The quote below begins at 87 20 For a general overview of the Cardinal 39 s talk click here Some of his ot

View of Vidigal, revitalized slum of Rio de Janiero

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Cardinal Rodriguez: On the need to question capitalism

by Jim McDermott January 23, 2015

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga during the Q & A following his Jan. 20 talk on “The Meaning of Mercy” at Santa Clara University.

Dispatches

Cardinal Rodriguez on Homosexuality and the Church

by Jim McDermott January 23, 2015

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga during the Q amp A following his January 20th talk on ldquo The Meaning of Mercy rdquo at Santa Clara University INTERLOCUTOR Given the emphasis on a ldquo Church of Mercy rdquo how might that emphasis affect the pastoral response of the Church to gay and les

Dispatches

Cardinal Rodriguez on the “Unfree Market”

by Jim McDermott January 22, 2015

“They used to say priests do not know of economy. I’d say but we know of humanity.”

Chinese Catholic priests baptize new believers during a 2013 Easter Vigil in a church in Shenyang, China. A papal visit to China does not appear likely anytime soon, according to experts on the church in China. (CNS photo/EPA)

Dispatches

China Flies By as Pope Francis Wraps Up Asia Visit

by Steven Schwankert January 22, 2015

The Vatican sent mixed messages to the People rsquo s Republic of China before and at the end of Pope Francis rsquo s two-country Asia visit which ended earlier this week In mid-December the Pope declined to meet the Dalai Lama who was visiting Rome At the time the Vatican cited the sensitivity