Concordats are treaties between states and the Holy See regulating the civil status of the church Because the Holy See represents not only political interests but moral ones as well concordats unlike most treaties tend to be confused in the popular mind with the notion that the Holy See approves

In the first Sunday of Lent, Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness for sins committed by Catholics over the last two millennia. For 20 minutes he listed and prayed about sins against various groups, including Jews and Muslims. "Christians have often denied the Gospel; yielding to a mentality of p

From 2000: In a "multicultural" society shouldn’t anti-Catholicism be a dead issue?

In ancient Israel, a jubilee year was a time to build the kinds of social relationships expected of God’s people. It was the season to liberate slaves who lost their freedom through debt and return land to those who had sold it to pay off debts. It was a year to erase debts altogether. So it i

Could a pope resign? Would a retired pope still be infallible? If a pope resigns and another is elected, are there in effect two popes?

Cardinal Says Boff’s Ideas Still Alive 15 Years After SilencingFifteen years after the Vatican silenced a Brazilian theologian for holding that the one true church can exist outside the Catholic Church, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said the idea continues to circulate. The cardinal, who is prefec

The Reform of the Papacy is an important book one certain to be controversial within and without the Roman Catholic Church above all controversial within the episcopacy in the United States and abroad To recognize its importance and likely impact requires but a brief consideration of the topic an

In what may signal a crack in the wall of support for the death penalty, a number of states have begun to question whether it can ever be fairly applied. Illinois provides the most dramatic example. Since 1977, 13 men have been released from its death row. One, Anthony Porter, came within two days o

Only last year pundits were pronouncing the sitcom on its last legs. After all, "Seinfeld" and "Home Improvement" were gone, and even popular shows like "Frasier" seemed increasingly tired. (How often can you watch Niles pursue Daphne, Frasier avoid Lilith and Eddie act