Monday evening in the Vatican Basilica, Pope Benedict presided at Vespers for the opening of the academic year in pontifical universities. His homily focused on priestly ministry. The Pope then went on to identify three preconditions for a priest’s life to ensure its conformity to Christ: “the aspiration to collaborate with Jesus in spreading the Read more
This article is by Fr Chris Middleton SJ, the Principal of St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, in Sydney. It is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in the college’s newsletter The Occupy Wall Street protests have swept around the globe. While it is hard to identify a coherent program in these protests, it is Read more
Cara Pozolo identifies herself as a member of the Catholic faith, but said she doesn’t always agree with all of the church’s teachings. Pozolo, a senior at the University of Notre Dame, is one of many students who find themselves struggling to accept some of the Catholic church’s beliefs. These students are not alone. A Read more
Recently the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of All Saints, often referred to as All Saints’ Day or All Hallows. To respect the day, 15 patron saints for modern situations presents some of the lesser-known and more modern patronages of the saints. 15 patron saints for modern situations includes St Genesius, the patron saint of Read more
While the following article concerns the US, much of what is reported here is reflected in Catholic parish life in Aotearoa New Zealand: A lot has changed in parish life in a quarter-century, yet American Catholics are still predominantly attached to territorial parishes headed by a priest pastor. The model is being stretched and transformed, Read more
The saint whose story inspires me the most is Blessed Pope John XXIII. Born into a peasant family, one of 13 children, he wore hand-me-down clothes until he was in gradate school. He was unabashedly human. He smoked cigarettes, drank wine and enjoyed eating. He was elected pope at the age of 77 in 1958 Read more
Much has been written in recent years about the declining hold of traditional church boundaries on Americans’ religious and spiritual beliefs and their understanding of religious truth and how it is mediated. Catholics are not immune to these cultural changes. An overwhelming majority in our survey, 88 percent, agree that how a person lives is Read more
This weekend, in light of the continuing protests at St Paul’s, many in the Church will be asking themselves whether they side with the protesters or the authorities. But as author and Church historian Stephen Tomkins writes, the debate goes back at least 2,000 years. Major national Churches are often the focus of protest. A Read more
American Catholics continue to maintain a moderate to high degree of commitment to the church. As in past surveys, we assessed our respondents’ commitment by combining their responses to three separate questions: “How important is the Catholic church to you personally?”; “Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you go to Mass?”; and “On Read more
The anger of protestors who for months now have invaded the public squares of half the world is that of a generation at a standstill, disillusioned by dreams of narcissistic and quarrelsome fathers. The slow death of liberalism of the 80’s and 90’s, is leaving us with a world split in two: countries that are Read more