With his 26-year pontificate, soon-to-be Blessed John Paul II guided, educated and inspired a whole generation of Catholics. These Catholics often refer to him as John Paul the Great, and point to his witness when they speak of their vocations — to the priesthood, to religious life, to marriage — and to the universal call Read more
World War II was the last war the United States fought with a formal declaration of war. As background to this, in his book “The Next Decade,” George Friedman spends a good deal of time considering the relation of the American Empire to the American Republic and the threat the empire poses to the republic. Read more
When scientists announced five years ago they could reprogram ordinary skin cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells, religious conservatives and others who opposed the use of stem cells cheered the advance. But while they have proven to be a powerful new way to study human disease, the reprogrammed cells — known as induced pluripotent Read more
Religion has always been one of those domains where people are inherently social. Just as people discuss the happenings of the day in their local bar or pub, worshippers socialize in their temple of choice, using religious philosophies as a framework for their views. Prior to the social network bug that recently plagued the entire Read more
The Courtyard of the Gentiles, held recently in Paris, has exposed a gaping deficit on the level of communication. No press office. No text made available to the media, neither before, nor during, nor after. Only those present and those listening to Radio Notre-Dame or viewing KTO TV to were able to hear the words of Read more
With little more than six months to go before the introduction of the translation of the new English missal in England, the voices of dissent and concern continue to grow. Here, a liturgical scholar argues that, if the Missal is to be accepted with conviction, it is vital that its supporters make their voices heard. Read more
When I was in college nearly 20 years ago, most of the young women I knew took birth control pills for medical reasons as instructed by their gynaecologists. Now that I am in my 30’s, I am encountering women who are only just discovering that they never really needed to be on the pill in Read more
The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, Barry Jones, was on his way to Hokitika when the February 22 quake hit. He was out of mobile range until Arthur’s Pass, where he turned round and came back. An unreal event: he didn’t feel the shake but returned to a blitzed city. When we spoke, Jones was still Read more
Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, said he believed the church’s reaction to the sex scandal was rigorous and strong and he wants to see “zero tolerance for wayward priests”. In a interview on CBS, Dolan said the acts themselves and the decades-long cover-up are hard for him to bear or understand. “In some ways, Read more
The Bible tells us to pray for our enemies. Now psychologists are saying the same thing. Saying a prayer may help calm anger and allow people to behave less aggressively towards those who have upset them, researchers say. “Prayer gets people to view the world in a very kind and gentle way and reduces feelings Read more