What matters most when we reach out to Catholics who do not attend Mass regularly (aka “cultural Catholics”)? Everything. It’s not just the right words, careful timing, thoughtful stories, our tone and everything else; it’s all of it. Add to the top of the list how we personally live our Catholic faith in our everyday Read more
A recent study by research company Censis for the Italian Bishops’ Conference reveals that, while 71% of Italians identify as Catholic, fewer than half attend church regularly and individualistic approaches to faith are on the rise. The report, released just before Italy’s first Synodal Assembly, highlights a shifting landscape in Italy’s religious practices and challenges Read more
The great educator and cultural historian Walter Ong, S.J., wrote an essay for America in 1990 in which he suggested the metaphor of yeast can serve as a powerful model for Catholic education. Yeast, he wrote, is an agent of infusion, of integration and penetration that transforms the flour into which it is introduced. He Read more
“I did all the things,” said Carli, mom of four grown children who have stopped practicing the Catholic faith. “We went to Mass as a family. “We sacrificed to send them to Catholic school. They went to youth group. We did everything we thought we were supposed to do. What happened?” It’s one of the Read more
Dame Joy Cowley must be one of New Zealand’s most well-known authors. She’s also a mother, suicide survivor, woman of faith, spiritual director and wise woman. Amongst other things. Now almost blinded by macular degeneration, 88-year old Cowley is about to launch a new book of rhymes and nonsense, where shadow and light play a Read more
Pope Francis is well known for his strong views about faith and protecting God’s creation. The Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is of the same view. Faith in God comes with two “inseparable” elements, Bartholomew said on Sunday which was the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation He said these two Read more
Catholic Herald interviews John Cleese: How does it feel to give an interview to a Catholic publication? John Cleese (pictured): “The question slightly amuses me, but I see why I’m being asked that. “I do have a very mixed view of the Catholic Church, because I think what happens to most religions is that after Read more
Receiving the Eucharist is what most young Catholics expect. Even Paul Gannucci (pictured with his parents). A myriad of health conditions resulting in his being tube-fed since he was three months old have prevented him from consuming the Eucharist. Nonetheless, Gannucci has always wanted to be able to receive the Body of Christ. And so Read more
The priest who removed a cherished painting from a parish church is forcing at least one parishioner to confront an unthinkable – the choice between her cultural identity and her faith. Anne Marie Brillante, a member of the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico, says the recent removal of a cherished painting from St Joseph Read more
Kamala Harris made history in 2020 as the first Black woman elected as vice president of the United States, shattering barriers that have kept men—almost all of them white—entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries. Making history Today, she is one step closer to making history again. On Sunday, Read more