In the July 30-August 6 edition of America, Vincent Gragnani writes about the new, lay face of missionaries. As the number of priests and religious ministry around the globe declines, he writes, lay people are helping to fill the gap. Mr. Gragnani is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego and a former staff writer at the Southern Cross, the diocesan newspaper of the diocese of San Diego. In addition to publishing in America, he has written for St. Anthony Messenger, One and U.S. Catholic. Mr. Gragnani agreed to discuss his article by email.

How many lay missionaries are working today?

Sixteenth Sunday of the Year C Luke 10 38-42 In 1999 I met an elderly Dominican at the Sainte Baume the holy cave in Provence the beautiful Cezanne region in the south of France where tradition has it that Mary Magdalene having labored for the evangelization of the region retired into solitu

A farmer a stockbroker and woman who was a lawyer were standing in line waiting for their chance at entrance into Heaven St Peter called the farmer first We have only one simple requirement for entrance here St Peter said You must spell God Easy enough said the farmer G-O-

Chaldean Bishop Calls for U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq U.S. troops should withdraw and let Iraqi factions fight it out, the bishop for most Iraqi Catholics in the United States said June 19. Let the Iraqis kill each other, but let the occupying power get out, because they are not killing each other bec

From 2007, Drew Christiansen, S.J., on Pope Benedict's unexpected success as a diplomat

As my spiritual directee described what she called “a meltdown” in talking with her husband, she sighed, “I just don’t care anymore.” Things were not going well at the parish where she is on staff. She was fatigued; her husband was not recovering well from an injury; sh

Media reaction to the recent United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the federal ban on partial-birth abortion reflected unfortunate confusion concerning the legitimate relationship between religion and political debate in American society. The case, Gonzales v. Carha

A review of Philip Jenkins's book on Europe and Islam

The Pope and the PresidentThe first meeting between President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI on June 9 in Vatican City was one of many photo opportunities on the presidents quick trip to Europe on the occasion of the G-8 meeting in Germany. Predictably, the president sought to highlight the is

A few clicks into a Google search of “Professor David J. O’Brien,” someone not entirely in the know could wonder just how many contemporary American intellectuals there are by that name, surfacing in venues within and beyond the academic world. There is David J. O’Brien the C