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I entered the seminary in Dublin in October 1962, just one week before the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The winter of 1962-63 was one of the bleakest in decades, and our seminary was a very cold place in more ways than one. My memory of the seminary is of a building and a Read more
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Every week or so, Father Ray toted a suitcase past the rectory offices. “Dry cleaning,” he’d say. “Liquor bottles,” feared both the pastor and Mary Catherine Meek, who worked in the suburban Chicago parish. People caught whiffs of alcohol on Father Ray (not his real name) at Mass. He had undergone treatment for alcoholism before Read more
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The April 22nd kidnapping of Syrian archbishops Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the killing of their driver, has reminded us once again of the vulnerability of ancient Christian peoples living in the Middle East. More than 1,000 Christians have been killed Read more
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I was motivated to write the book A Catholic Guide to Depression because I believe that our Catholic tradition – including the writings of the Church Fathers and saints – has something important to say to those suffering from this terrible affliction. Depression is often misunderstood; most people mistakenly believe it’s nothing more than intense Read more
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It was fortuitous the Catholic Church in New Zealand had Hamilton priest, Fr Michael Gielen, who happened to be studying in Rome, to liaise with New Zealand media, commenting on the atmosphere, the scenes, the hopes and excitement as the world waited for a new pope. Fr Gielen captured some of the excitement of the event Read more
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Adam Franssen, a biology professor at Longwood University, has a bold theory: mothers are smarter than other women. He and other researchers, including Craig Kinsley of the University of Richmond, have found that there’s more science than previously thought to being equipped for motherhood. Mothers are better at problem solving, handling stress and at completing Read more
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When Pope Francis visited his predecessor at Castle Gandolfo in March, he said to Benedict XVI that “we are brothers.” This image nicely frames the differences between them. It underscores that the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was not a rupture in the Church (as some suggest) but an unexpected lesson in apostolic continuity. Specifically, Read more
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Except for the severest of unbelievers, it is rare to find a person who does not relish a tale of spiritual transformation, an account of the soul’s progress from winter to spring. A favorite of mine from this genre involves Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, who is now doing Read more
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They grew up in the Siberian gulag, travelled thousands of miles in harrowing drudgery across Russia to Persia, then sailed half way around the world to be greeted by thousands of smiling Kiwis. Today their odyssey was remembered on Wellington’s waterfront as surviving Polish refugee children gathered for a wreath-laying with Polish foreign affairs minister Read more
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When Grace L. Fabian forgave the man who murdered her husband, she was simply following her faith. She and her husband arrived in Papua New Guinea on the Fourth of July 1969 to work with Wycliff Bible Translators, producing literacy materials and translating the New Testament. They had four children, all born in Papua New Read more
