Did you know European starlings can be taught to speak? Listen to this...

10 things you need to know about Holy Thursday...
Jimmy Akin
Every single Mass, we hear the words “on the night he was betrayed.” That night was Holy Thursday, and it is one of the most important nights in all of history. Here are 10 things you need to know. First, what happened on the original Holy Thursday? An amazing amount of stuff! This was one of the most pivotal days in the life of Jesus Christ...

Team of young Chicago priests answer the call to anoint COVID-19 coronavirus patients...

High Court frees Cardinal Pell; the Washington Post offers basic journalism. And the New York Times?
Terry Mattingly
This will be a very simple post about a very complicated religion-news story. I am referring to the news that lit up Twitter the other day, when the news broke that Australia’s highest court had — with a 7-0 vote — overturned controversial (I need a stronger word) decisions by two lower courts convicting Cardinal George Pell of sexually assaulting two choirboys at the Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s...

For men in quarantine, here are 3 ideas for rediscovering your marriage...
John Cuddeback
Marriage is often an exercise in recognizing the gift in what does not appear to be one. In this way it is a microcosm of human life. Sharing in the same home is a central and defining blessing of marriage. That doesn’t prevent unexpected lengths of time in home quarantine from being very difficult. I have been reading the sketches of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar in Plutarch’s Lives...

The life-changing truth to learn when you’re sheltering at home...

Resurrection is our song — death is not the last word...
Kathryn Jean Lopez
There was really and truly a point during the great Lenten quarantine of 2020 when I saw a ladybug on the floor and thought, “How thoughtful of you to make a visit!” The protocol, of course, for the great Lenten quarantine has involved, as you well know, “social distancing.” So you are with who you are with. And if that happens to be a bug...

Pope Francis establishes new commission to study women deacons...

Embracing the kind of redeemer God appointed...
George Weigel
The Gospel readings of Lent remind us that opposition to Jesus and his mission frequently grew out of the desire for a redeemer who was more like what various characters in the drama thought a redeemer should be. Jesus’s fellow-townsmen reject him because they can’t imagine a messiah whose relatives are all around them. In Jerusalem...

The only reasonable verdict against Cardinal Pell was acquittal...
Fr. Raymond de Souza
The unanimous decision by Australia’s High Court — equivalent to the Supreme Court — to quash the convictions of Cardinal George Pell is momentous for both Australian justice and for the Church, both in Australia and universally. About the Church, another column. The acquittal of Cardinal Pell restores to an innocent man his freedom...

Chicken tikka masala from the Catholic ‘Bacon World Champion’...

Roman crucifixion was torture, but not necessarily the most painful death possible. Here’s why that fact is so important...
Elizabeth Klein
As we trudge through the Lenten season, heading towards Good Friday, the cross casts a long shadow over us. And perhaps during these penitential days, or on Good Friday itself, you will hear something like this coming from a preacher (or from a blog post): “The cross was the most horrific, most painful death possible.” Your homilist may even go on to describe the extreme suffering of Roman crucifixion...

If we are in Christ, we have nothing to fear from the terrors of the world — including coronavirus...

There are more than 150 confirmed moons in our solar system. We ranked ’em all...

April’s Super Pink Moon is the biggest full moon of 2020. Here’s what to expect...

Why the Vatican might want to send a thank-you note to Australia’s High Court...

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