During the recent U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall assembly in Baltimore, several bishops and one abbot, gathered with about 25 peace activists – myself included – to share a simple meal and consider the horrible emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds suffered by combatants of war. In the old basement of historic St. Vincent de Paul Church, Read more
ROME – Just as with department store windows in the United States, reminders in Rome that Christmas is coming seem to start popping up earlier and earlier ever year. Of course Italians don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but it’s worth pointing out that Turkey Day just happened and it feels like Christmas season is here. This week, Read more
This time a year ago, I started knitting a blanket for my son in preparation for his departure to Hato Pāora, a Catholic Māori boys’ boarding school in Feilding. I’d never so much as knitted a scarf in my life, but somehow I got it into my head that he needed to take with him Read more
In a recent episode of the CBS show Madam Secretary, there’s a scene where the Secretary of State’s husband—a renowned religion professor—is offered a position leading a special intelligence taskforce to track down Islamic terrorists. “Your religious expertise should be invaluable,” the president and his chief of staff tell Dr. McCord when they offer him Read more
The news that Bernini’s Elephant in Piazza della Minerva in Rome has been vandalised, reported by this magazine – makes particularly sad reading. The damage is slight, and can no doubt be repaired, as the broken tusk has been recovered, and though the work in question is not one of the artist’s supreme masterpieces, the Read more
Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins. Facebook is ego. Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed. ~ Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn (2011) The Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer suggests that Hoffman’s tongue-in-cheek comment from five years ago may contain more than a kernel of truth. Using Dante’s Inferno as Read more
When we read the Psalms we recognise a familiar pattern of prayer we can call “Bargaining with God.” In the ancient texts it goes something like this: “God, I praise you, I adore you, I worship you. Now will you please smite my enemies.” Our bargaining tends to be a slightly different: “God, sorry, I’ve Read more
Chances are you are going to loathe at least one of your kid’s friends, sometimes for no good reason, but this is one situation where you have to tread very carefully. 1. Never admit it. That’s the fastest way to make them infinitely more attractive to toddlers and teenagers. If you want to change a Read more
There are times when, as a politician, you have to hold your nose, to smile politely and get on with it. Yesterday, in New Zealand’s parliament, was supposed to be one of those times. My Green party colleagues and I were asked to support a government motion to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the US Read more
Watching the USCCB meeting this week was frustrating. The conference seems stuck. At a time when the country desperately needs a strong moral voice, the united voice of the bishops is sidelined, fretting about things that don’t matter and tepidly addressing the things that do. And, it was apparent to all that the concerns of Read more