Voices

Michael J. O’Loughlin is national correspondent at America and author of Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.
FaithNews
President Joe Biden told reporters on Ash Wednesday that earlier in the day he met with a cardinal for prayer and ashes—and revealed what he has given up for Lent.
FaithDispatches
The vast majority of young, self-identified Catholics describe themselves as at least slightly spiritual and religious—but they practice their faith in ways that might not be familiar to older believers.
FaithDispatches
When winter regularly throws you more than 200 inches of snow, make an ice chapel.
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Tania Tetlow, who in 2018 became the first woman and first layperson to serve as president of Loyola University New Orleans, is set to repeat history.
Politics & SocietyNews
Cincinnati and Los Angeles bishops face off with Super Bowl bets to raise money for Catholic schools
In what has become something of a tradition, the archbishops of the two cities that will face off in next week’s Super Bowl have placed a wager on the game.
FaithDispatches
The alleged papal puppy putdown raised the question: Is there a spiritual component to owning an animal?
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bishop George L. Thomas said he would not ask priests to police the Communion line but asked pro-choice politicians to voluntarily “refrain from the reception of Holy Communion while holding public office.”
Politics & SocietyDispatches
With tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered for the annual March for Life, Catholics for Choice projected pro-abortion messages on the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
FaithDispatches
Catholics uncomfortable with a synodal model of the church, Cardinal Tobin said, may be put off by the messiness dialogue often unearths. But, he said, refusing to live with tension can be a form of heresy.
FaithDispatches
The new policy instructs priests who currently celebrate a form of the Mass, sometimes called the Latin Mass or Tridentine Mass, which was supplanted with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, to request permission from the archbishop if they wish to continue using the extraordinary form.