There are many ways of analyzing the fault lines in the Vatican, but perhaps the most time-honored (if also often exaggerated) is the tension between an Italian old guard and pretty much everybody else. By conventional political logic, anyway, Saturday saw the Italians notch a fairly big win. It could turn out, however, to be Read more
The best reason for readers to go out and purchase Douglas Rushkoff’s new book, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, is that the heroes at the end of the book turn out to be… the popes! The “new operating system” Rushkoff recommends turns out to be a variation on the fundamental vision of distributism – Read more
The latest issue of National Geographic arrived at our house with a dazzling cover story on Yellowstone National Park, full of images of grizzly bears, wolves, elk, and bison. Yellowstone is a wild place “filled with wonders—fierce animals, deep canyons, scalding waters—that are magnificent to behold but fretful to engage,” and the issue asks whether Read more
Here are four ideas that have helped me move forward with my dream of making a difference in the Church Last month, Pope Francis had an inspirational message for the laity, “Dare to dream!”. I am energised by his words because they reminded me why I left everything to follow Christ. Five years ago, I Read more
A friend gave me permission to write this story. She and her husband were in the car, their three young daughters in the back seat. Suddenly, the youngest daughter announced, “Mummy and Daddy had sex three times.” Middle daughter, knowing there had been two miscarriages, corrected little sister. “No! They had sex five times.” Eldest Read more
Pope Francis keeps making headlines, but not in a way that soothes all Catholics. This week CNN reported that “Pope says Christians should apologize to gay people”, a story which was relayed by NPR as “Pope Francis: Church Should Apologize To Gays And Other Marginalized Groups”. As usual, this upset a few Catholics who have Read more
Over 37 years-ago when Annunciation House – a sanctuary and home of hospitality that has served over 100,000 refugees, homeless poor and undocumented workers – was started in El Paso, Texas, founding director Ruben Garcia and a few friends wanted to place themselves among the poor, to see where the poor would lead them. He Read more
Dating is not easy. Dating as an overweight woman can be more difficult. Dating as an overweight conservative Christian woman seems impossible. Whether we admit it or not, physical attraction plays a large role in paving the way for love. We don’t like to look closely at this fact, especially inside the walls of the church Read more
My grandad grew bananas. I never got to eat one — the garden was off-limits to us kids. But the palms of that exotic tree swayed gently in the breeze above the garden walls, tempting us with its forbidden treats. A cousin bragged once that he’d snuck into the garden when no one was looking, Read more
“Perhaps the most important thing a movie can do,” Roger Ebert once wrote, is to “take us outside our personal box of time and space, and invite us to empathize with those of other times, places, races, creeds, classes and prospects.” “I believe,” he added, that “empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.” Empathy Read more