The Vatican’s October 2009 announcement of a special process to admit Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church raised questions for many who perhaps thought that...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
Religious congregations are not franchises of the Vatican “central office.” More like families than corporations, sisters have different missions...
Joyce Donahue first became aware of the popularity of the Rapture belief among Catholics a few years ago when a catechist at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in...
Along with oceans flooding over Himalayan peaks, the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy crashing into the White House, and the statue of Christ the...
If any scholar could claim a ring-side seat to the liturgical reform of the 20th century, it would have to be Father Robert Taft, S.J. Taft recalls being...
“The art of prophecy is very difficult,” Mark Twain once said, “especially with respect to the future.” Surprisingly, Twain’s words pretty much describe...
While Catholic moral teaching on medical treatment has been in place for hundreds of years, the last three decades have seen increased development and debate...
When you listen to a gospel story, it may sound familiar, but perhaps you could have sworn you heard it differently before. Perhaps there was a detail you had...
One may not expect to find a Christian monastery in the mountains of Syria, much less one led by an Italian Jesuit. But Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (The Monastery...
Celibacy is one of the most widely recognized characteristics of a Roman Catholic priest. But though it is well known, celibacy itself is often misunderstood...
