I have a friend in Europe who can barely keep a job. She’s brilliant, well-educated, charming, and loaded with experience in all aspects of her profession. The problem is her emotional state, which, even with therapy and medication, is always one meltdown away from another pink slip. Another friend who went to school with me Read more
Disillusioned by their experiences in Catholicism, some Romans are turning to paganism and finding a connection to their roots through worshipping the gods of antiquity, whom they see as more welcoming than the church. “Rome is pagan,” Pope Francis told members of the Roman clergy during a closed-door meeting January 14, when he urged them Read more
Though I have butched up pretty good in the ensuing decades, I was a somewhat soft boy at my Jesuit high school. It was no place for sissies. Being gay After a difficult freshman year, I begged my parents to transfer me to the local public school. That request, to my father, was ridiculous. Little Read more
Jordan Peterson, the controversial Canadian psychologist, bestselling author and champion of manhood, strode back and forth across the stage at the historic Providence Performing Arts Center in early February. He matched the theatre’s ornate decoration with one of his characteristically flamboyant suits — a colour-blocked navy, white and orange number with yellow lining. As he Read more
He’s warned Catholic seminaries against the tendency to turn future priests into “little monsters”. He’s scolded the Church’s presbyters for wearing ornate liturgical vestments that stem from a bygone era, telling them to stop dressing up in “granny’s lace”. And he’s called it a “scandal” to see young priests and seminarians going into the ecclesiastical Read more
At a time of climate change and unprecedented demographic growth, a researcher who analyses thematic themes such as the dynamics of globalisation and human security a calls for placing food issues at the heart of our policies. “We must not forget that 735 million people are in a state of chronic hunger and more than Read more
There was a time when the family washing machine would last decades, with each breakdown fixed by the friendly local repair person. But those days are long gone. Today, it is often faster, easier and cheaper to replace household items, even when they are meant to be repairable. This is not just a consumer issue. Read more
Gilbert Lubega sat in a white plastic chair at his home in Wakiso, a suburb of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. He was contemplating two photos of a young gay female couple kissing and another one of a male gay couple kissing at their wedding ceremony. “These images make me think the world is coming to an Read more
You shouldn’t trust any answers a chatbot sends you. And you probably shouldn’t trust it with your personal information either. That’s especially true for “AI girlfriends” or “AI boyfriends,” according to new research. An analysis into 11 so-called romance and companion chatbots, published on Wednesday by the Mozilla Foundation, has found a litany of security Read more
In the eleven years since Pope Francis was elected Bishop of Rome, it’s been a daily exercise as a professional historian and theologian to demonstrate to certain Catholics and others that this pope is indeed Catholic. There’s something quite incredible about that when you think about it. Francis has not turned faithful Catholics into 19th-century Read more