If I had ever managed to find time to take the divinity school course on “Troubling New Testament Texts,” I would have lobbied to include today’s Gospel passage on the syllabus.

Promising demographic data can easily be interpreted in a way that overlooks the textured history of Latino Catholics in the United States, one in which the very existence of Latino church communities has often come under threat.

This week before “Inside the Vatican” goes on break, we are giving you a round-up of this year’s top Vatican news.

Why is bad news so much easier to believe than the good?