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A perfect week, ironic invites, and the social network...

I took a day off this week, which I rarely ever do. My wife was out of town for a family event over the weekend, so, for a whole glorious couple of days, my daughter and I got to spend some true quality time together. Her current favorite movie is the 1995 classic “Babe,” which is a perfect film by any clear-eyed assessment...

Theron Ware's Damnation and Catholicism, Then and Now...

The novel The Damnation of Theron Ware, published in 1896, unspools the tale of a young Methodist minister who, thanks to Catholics, science, bohemianism, and good old American pragmatism, loses his faith. Yes, Reverend Theron Ware was vulnerable, no doubt. His pride, limited intellectual, spiritual and social background...

Preparing for the Beatific Vision...

The attributes bestowed by God upon man are quite beautiful if you take the time to admire God’s work in every human being. There is nothing that does not involve an act of Divine intimacy in how God made both man and woman. From the moment we receive the ability to breathe and encounter the world outside of our mother's womb...

In the Garden of Gethsemane, why did Peter strike at Malchus?

Judas Iscariot came to the Garden of Gethsemane with soldiers and guards who carried swords and clubs, lanterns and torches. Jesus’ disciples realized what was about to happen and asked, “Lord, shall we strike with a sword?” When one struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear, Jesus shouted...

Pope Francis on Palm Sunday: ‘Jesus Entered Jerusalem as a Humble and Peaceful King’...

On Palm Sunday, hundreds of priests, bishops, cardinals, and laypeople solemnly carried large palm branches in procession through St. Peter’s Square to begin the first liturgy of Holy Week. “Dear brothers and sisters, since the beginning of Lent until now we have prepared our hearts by penance and charitable works,” Pope Francis said in a soft voice at the beginning of Palm Sunday Mass on March 24.

On a trip to Rome, an unexpected illness brings surprising grace...

I went to Rome for a short trip largely to offer a little moral support for friends who were doing something beautiful for the life of the Church. While visiting with one of them who lives there a day or so before the event, I got sick. Non-contagious sick, but a catalyst for much humility. So, I was largely locked in my room — in Rome — for a day and change. I was annoyed with myself for not thinking this through better — as if I could have known this would happen...

On Religion: ‘Demos II’ Takes On Pope Francis And The Future Of Catholicism...

Catholic cyberspace had a meltdown during Lent in 2022 as cardinals circulated a letter from “Demos” — Greek for “people” — an anonymous scribe claiming that “this pontificate is a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe.” The author turned out to be the now-late Cardinal George Pell of Australia, who served Pope Francis as leader of the Vatican's Secretariat of the Economy.

March Madness: How Schools With Religious Affiliations Could Fare In 2024...

Get those brackets ready, another March Madness is again upon us. The NCAA’s men’s Division I basketball tournament will enthrall millions with its bracket-busting upsets. It is, for many sports fans, the best time of the year. While the much-anticipated tournament has become a cultural phenomenon that’s largely secular in nature, it also has plenty of religious connections.

Fascinating new book explores deep roots of sex abuse crisis in 1600s and 1700s...

The pattern of behavior shown by Jesuit leadership in the management of at least one current high-profile scandal has centuries of institutional practice behind it. That’s according to one prominent historian, Ulrich Lehner of the University of Notre Dame, who has just published a German-language study of the Jesuits’ historical handling of abuse in their ranks.

The Story Behind One Of Africa’s Smallest Catholic Churches...

Sitting snugly at the start of the escarpment taking visitors up from the floor of the Great Rift Valley, some 33 miles (53 kilometers) from Nairobi, is Mai Mahiu Catholic Church, otherwise known as the “Travelers’ Chapel.” Older generations call the place as “Msikiti,” which means mosque...