Vatican to Release Some WW II Archival Material EarlyThe Vatican announced it would open ahead of schedule part of its 20th-century archives, including new documents on Vatican-German relations and Pope Pius XII’s efforts to help prisoners during World War II. The Vatican said cataloguing the

While I was baking Christmas cookies in mid-December (oh, good, here’s another broken one!), my thoughts suddenly turned to Lent. Clearly I was en route to surpassing the average 1.4 pounds we Americans gain during the Christmas holiday season. So in a perverse sort of way, while munching my w

As a liberal Catholic, I admire the progressive doctrine of Reform Judaism. Last summer, Reform Jews gave me something else to applaud. They have been open-minded enough to restore what they call the affective side of their religion: traditions like Hebrew chant. They now acknowledge that those gest

America rsquo s Bishop the first full biography of Fulton Sheen holds a candle to its subject The prose does not burn the page Trying to outshine a shooting star is doomed to failure For all his solid scholarship however Thomas C Reeves gives us fast and focused narrative Although loaded wi

More than one perplexed priest has asked me: "What should I do when people come to confession and say they have nothing to confess?" It used to be that when people had not been to confession in years, they would offer a lengthy list of sins. Or longtime sinners would say, "You name it

Chinese Documents Detail Crackdown on ReligionSeven top-secret Chinese documents detailing government plans to crack down on religion were smuggled out of China and published on Feb. 11. The government documents, issued between April 1999 and October 2001, detail the goals and actions of China&rsquo

At a friend’s home a few years ago, I sat across the dining table from a Muslim woman who had been born in Egypt and had lived in many cities around the world. Ramadan had recently ended; Lent would shortly begin, and fasting became a topic of conversation. She spoke knowledgeably about Islam&

Young Adult Catholics Know Little About ReligiousYoung adult Catholics generally have a positive opinion of men and women religious, but many do not know a great deal about them, according to a new national study. Only one-third of those surveyed, for example, said they knew the difference between d