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...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
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...
For most of the year Christians hear a part of a letter of St. Paul read during Sunday worship. But if you had stopped Paul on the street in some place like...
“By what authority are you doing these things?” (Mark 11:27–28). With this and similar questions the gospels relentlessly portray Jesus’ opponents—the chief...
I often teach men and women who return to college later in life to complete a degree. It is not unusual that some of them are older than I am, and I often...
