Features

Pope’s press conference on ‘plane from Korea

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

America provides below the full transcript of the pope’s press conference. The translation was made by Gerard O’Connell, its Vatican correspondent, who travelled on the plane with the pope. This is not an official translation. Q. During the visit to Korea, you reached out to the families of the Sewol ferry disaster and consoled them. Read more

Growing old gracefully

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

A few years ago, Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, a prolific spiritual writer and one of the most prominent, outspoken contemporary American Catholic sisters, decided to finally tackle a book she had wanted to write for a long time. The result, The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully (Blue Bridge), beautifully reflects on the spirituality Read more

Pope Francis means business

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

The wildly popular Pope Francis is more than a pontiff of the people. He’s an elite manager who’s reforming the Vatican’s troubled finances. The new pope wanted to talk about money. That was the message that went out to a group of seven prominent financiers—major Catholics all—from around the world in the summer of 2013. Read more

Prayer for Catholic professionals: the daily examen

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

Over the years I have had numerous discussions with Catholic professionals around the country about making time for prayer and reflection during the busy work day. People have been interested in how I keep the Jesuit Daily Examen on my calendar, so I am sharing it here along with suggested times. The Examen is one Read more

Ways in which Millennials shape local congregations

Friday, August 15th, 2014

They are the largest generation in history. In the United States alone, they number more than 78 million, even larger than the seemingly ubiquitous Boomers. They are the Millennials. They are changing our nation, our world, and our churches. For the purpose of today’s post, I want to focus on changes they are already bringing Read more

Disability, discrimination, surrogacy: Baby Gammy

Friday, August 15th, 2014

There has been extensive recent discussion of the circumstances of baby Gammy, suffering from Down’s syndrome and heart problems, and apparently left behind with the birth mother in Thailand by the Australian commissioning couple, though they took his well sister home. Australians have responded generously with support for this photogenic little boy so that he Read more

Pope to highlight global focus in South Korea

Tuesday, August 12th, 2014

(RNS) Pope Francis departs next week (Aug. 14) on a five-day trip to South Korea, his first to Asia and the start of an important new papal focus on the region. In January, Francis will return to visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines, and a trip to Japan — where the pope wanted to go Read more

Soul searching and commerce on the Camino de Santiago

Tuesday, August 12th, 2014

Not long ago, only a few people would make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now, over 200,000 people a year spend several gruelling weeks along the route. Traditionalists turn up their noses at the crowds, but the rewards are still vast. In the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were neither a quest for meaning, Read more

Gaza crisis: the real danger to Israel comes from within

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, but left behind death and destruction. Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz tells SPIEGEL that her country is gripped by fear and is becoming increasingly suspicious of democracy. SPIEGEL: There was widespread support in Israel for the operation in the Gaza Strip, despite the huge numbers of civilian Read more

Why the First World War?

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Even historians still cannot agree on how the First World War began, writes Conor Mulvagh of the School of History and Archives at University College Dublin. They can broadly agree on what factors were involved but ascribing relative importance to a myriad of long-term and more immediate causal factors has kept academics, veterans, and politicians Read more