About 40 years ago I was able to offer pastoral assistance to a young woman who lost her husband, a former student of mine, in a fatal car crash. She was left with a 5-year-old daughter and relatively few friends in Pennsylvania, far from her native Midwestern home. I celebrated the funeral Mass, took care […]
Carolyn Y. Woo: Presence, not presents
Christmas is fast approaching. My thoughts, like those of many, have turned to Christmas presents. What would be fun and useful for my team members at Catholic Relief Services? What would not be merely shelved but stay in sight and mind and bring a smile? When would I have time to shop? What about my […]
Pope Francis in Turkey: A look at Christianity on the margins
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople embrace during a prayer service in the patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul Nov. 29. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) VATICAN CITY — Ankara and Istanbul were gray and cold, at least compared to Rome, during Pope Francis’ Nov. 28-30 visit to Turkey. And the general reception, […]
Manaolana | It’s ‘A Nun’s Life’: Website becomes a growing vocations ministry
WASHINGTON — What started out as a blog at a time when few people knew about blogs and hardly anyone was familiar with Twitter is a living and growing ministry run by two women religious who are Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sisters Julie Vieira and Maxine Kollasch oversee their website “A […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: ‘What are the functions of a deacon?’
Q: Often, I have been at a Mass where the deacon reads the Gospel, which is fine. But then, sometimes, the deacon goes on to give the homily while the priest watches. This disappoints me and makes me feel that the deacon is overstepping his bounds. Why should a deacon, rather than the priest, comment […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: How may I obtain a first class relic?
Q: Please forgive my awful handwriting. I have multiple sclerosis and also Parkinson’s disease and can no longer do very well on a typewriter or computer. My question is: Why is it so hard to obtain first-class relics? (Also, do I need permission from my bishop to obtain them?) I am now 65 years old […]
Father John Catoir: The synod and flexibility
There’s a saying out there that goes like this: “Unity in necessary things; liberty in doubtful things; charity in all things.” It’s hard to pin it down to one particular person, but it addresses a sentiment in the recent Synod of Bishops on the family. The Catholic Church teaches that a Christian has a right […]
Effie Caldarola: Finding God in the silence
Do you ever sit idly in front of the television, remote control in hand pointed like a weapon, and flip through channels wondering why the offerings are so bad? It’s enough to make a woman pitch her remote and grab the nearest novel. Fortunately, right before I did that one night, I switched to public […]
Praying for the dead, pope asks special prayers for victims of war
VATICAN CITY — The early November feasts of All Saints and All Souls call Catholics to contemplate their ultimate destiny, hope in the eternal happiness of their beloved dead and remember the thousands of innocent people dying each day because of human evil and selfishness. Because human beings believe they are gods and the lords […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: Finding the right parish for gays
Q: My daughter is gay and has been with her partner for more than 10 years. Both are cradle Catholics and are practicing today. They used to belong to a parish where the priest was wonderful and baptized their son in the church, but since then, they have moved and that priest has been transferred […]
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