Focus

What historians will say about Francis

Aug 12, 2017

A recent column by Ross Douthat in the New York Times (“Pope Francis’ Next Act” July 15, 2017) tags the issue of communion for the divorced and remarried as the “great controversy” of the past two years of the Francis pontificate.
Food for thought

Aug 12, 2017

Being baptized does not simply mean entrance to a sort of “club,” theologian John Cavadini said during a June 14 talk to U.S. bishops at their spring assembly in Indianapolis.
The role of the laity: Priest, prophet and king

Aug 12, 2017

The Second Vatican Council, in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (“Lumen Gentium”) promulgated by Blessed Paul VI on Nov. 21, 1964, presents succinctly the church’s teaching on the role of the laity in the church and in the world. This teaching can be found in Chapter 4, “The Laity,” Nos. 30-38.
Unity in diversity: Challenge for the ages

Aug 12, 2017

“Keep an open mind,” he exhorted couples and families in “The Joy of Love,” his 2016 apostolic exhortation on marriage and family life.
What makes Vivaldi unique among composers? He was a priest

Aug 07, 2017

While Antonio Vivaldi's “Four Seasons” echoes in concert halls and elevators around the world, for some, his greatest masterpieces are not the scores resonating spring, summer, fall and winter, but rather his sacred music.
Food for thought

Aug 05, 2017

Continuing his series of talks on the nature of Christian hope, the pope explained that hope is not a vague sentiment wishing to improve things of the world.
What does Scripture reveal about heaven

Aug 05, 2017

In the great creeds of the Catholic faith, we profess our belief in the "life of the world to come" and "life everlasting." This is not something merely passively believed in; rather, it is a profound hope in the truest sense of the word: the blessed trust in God's mercy and providence.
Do we look forward to the life of the world to come?

Aug 05, 2017

Heaven is so hard to imagine! For heaven is to such a great extent unknown to us.
Human Trafficking - When morality meets reality

Aug 05, 2017

Advocates for differing views cannot even agree on shared language: Those who defend their way of making a living as sex workers embrace their identity, while those, like Catholic sisters, who decry the term "sex work" as demeaning, argue that there can be no dignity in a relationship where sex is exchanged for money.
Why should we read Spadaro on ‘Catholic Integralism’?

Jul 28, 2017

The Rome-based Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica is one of the most important sources for understanding the relationship between the Jesuits, the papacy, and the Catholic Church on one side, and the secular, modern world on the other.