From the Associated Press The leader of Maine s Roman Catholics has taken the unusual step of threatening to punish an outspoken advocate for people who were sexually abused by priests possibly by denying him communion Paul Kendrick of Freeport has been banned from the Cathedral of the Immacu

The Israeli reprisal in Gaza is brutal but that does not justify the moral ignorance of protesters in European capitals and even New York City who condemn the Israeli reaction and not the action to which it was a response One protester on Fifth Avenue carried the sign Death to all Juice but his

Here is Michael Paulson of The Boston Globe interviewing the always-interesting always-provocative always-hardworking always generous-with-his-time always-worth-listening-to Richard McBrien the Catholic theologian teaching at Notre Dame nbsp I ve always profited from Father McBrien s wri

Laurie Laurie Goodstein the religion reporter at The New York Times has a fascinating nbsp three-part series on the surge in foreign priests serving in parishes in the United States nbsp There are probably few parishes in the States who have not been touched by this underreported and misunders

The BBC has the correct headline nbsp on Pope Benedict s curial speech story Pope attacks blurring of gender is far more accurate than all those headlines claiming nbsp that saving gay people is as important as saving the rainforests and similar riffs on Reuters nbsp misleading nbsp -- s

I have determined to spend the last week of Advent and the first week of Christmas meditating and reflecting on Edward Hicks rsquo The Peaceable Kingdom Hicks a Pennsylvania Quaker 1780-1849 was an autodidact as a painter although later in life he trained apprentices including the importan