It was almost a throwaway line in an interview with a London newspaper by a prominent British woman politician who has always shied away from excessive publicity But it said everything Until she stood down this week from Gordon Brown s Government Ruth Kelly was one of the most competent and eff

Communicating God's presence through preaching and proclamation

Scriptural understanding has flourished since Vatican II, but challenges remain.

In writing this short reflection on lectio divina in relationship to the coming Synod of Bishops. I was again forcefully reminded of the great watershed that the Second Vatican Council has been for Roman Catholics and for all other Christian churches. For 400 years following the Counter-Reformation,

The Synod on the Word of God is truly a monumental event for the church. Now that the final agenda for the synod is available with the publication in May of its working document (called in Latin an instrumentum laboris, IL), it is useful to consider how the agenda can help implement the church&rsquo

The wonders of Lourdes in its jubilee year

As many readers of this blog probably know The Synod on the Word of God begins in October and lasts for most of the month The purpose of the gathering is for the world s bishops to discuss the place of Scripture in the life of the church America s special issue on the synod has just been pub

An increasingly popular approach to teaching young people the faith

The Administrative Committee of the U S Bishops Conference has issued a statement on the recent comments by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Joseph Biden regarding the Church s teaching on abortion The statement is balanced but strong as were the previous statements issued joint

There are some extraordinary gatherings organised by Catholic movements that take place each year but which go largely unnoticed by the media One is the annual interfaith gathering organised by the Sant Egidio community in a different city in October each year Another is the so-called Rimini Mee