Focus

  • On the Synod...A woman’s view

    Oct 30, 2014

    Eberl, one of the few women personally invited by the Pope to take part in the Synod, was responsible for collecting the replies to the Vatican questionnaire in the Berlin archdiocese.

  • Ebola and the failure of the market

    Oct 24, 2014

    When Thomas Duncan first showed up at a Texas hospital complaining of a fever and stomach pains after a visit to his native Liberia, he was prescribed antibiotics and sent home.

  • Food for Thought

    Oct 24, 2014

    A big theme in the papacy of Pope Francis is immigration.

  • Family in a time of war

    Oct 24, 2014

    One of the issues the church is examining as it gets ready this year and next to deal with challenges to the family is the impact of migration and war.

  • The church, migration and the effects on the family

    Oct 24, 2014

    A Chaldean Catholic couple and their children recently spent nights over the course of two months sleeping on their home’s roof in an Iraqi village.

  • What the bishops didn’t talk about

    Oct 24, 2014

    When the Synod of Bishops on the family ends Sunday after an intense two-week debate, attention will likely be focused on how the summit’s big battles are resolved — how much of an opening to same-sex unions remains, and what line is adopted on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

  • The unhappy cost of resentment

    Oct 24, 2014

    It’s not only love that makes the world go round. Resentment too is prominent in stirring the drink. In so many ways our world is drowning in resentment.

  • Pope Francis' closing synod speech received with standing ovation

    Oct 24, 2014

    Pope Francis' address at the conclusion of the Synod on the Family, delivered Saturday, was responded to with a four-minute standing ovation on the part of the bishops attending the Vatican meeting.

  • How the Synod process is different under Pope Francis

    Oct 24, 2014

    For those who have watched the synod process since it was first initiated under Pope Paul VI, the current meeting has some unique aspects that come from Pope Francis.

  • Five things the Synod just did

    Oct 24, 2014

    Essentially, the “relatio” (or report) published today, at the close of the Synod, will serve as a starting point for future discussion. It was also presented with great transparency, including even sections that did not win the necessary votes for complete approval.