The goal of a Catholic family is to become a family of saints...
Mark Shea
It’s all well and good to pray for your kids to discern a religious vocation and to encourage them to consider the possibility that, of all the possible vocations God may have for them, a religious one is among them. But to say that any vocation but one in religious or ordained life is a failure is to radically misunderstand Catholic theology and ecclesiology...

Who's who in the movie credits, from directors to best boy grips...

God hates divorce and all its carnage...
Msgr. Charles Pope
Almost two decades ago, as a younger priest, I remember trying to save a marriage. Sadly, by the second counseling session I concluded that the couple really had no intention of trying to save the marriage. Rather, they were looking to me to assuage their guilt and to console them by telling them they were really “doing the right thing...

Benedict XVI receives the new cardinals, speaks with them in various languages...

She has Down Syndrome but swam the English Channel—and she’s the first to receive an honorary doctorate...

23 dangerous things you should let your kids do...

Italian newspaper reveals confidential U.S. embassy assessments of Pope Francis...

1,600-year-old basilica found underwater in what was ancient Nicaea...

3 hard sayings that challenge modern sensibilities...

Vatican breaks silence on forced disappearance of Chinese bishop...

Burma’s Muslims are facing torture and execution—and one of their bravest defenders is Cardinal Bo...
Daniel Philpott
One of the most impressive voices for justice in the global Catholic Church is Cardinal Charles Bo of Burma, who has recently spoken out against Burma’s Buddhist nationalist government for its atrocious treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority. Unlike few other Burmese, he has been willing to name openly his government’s actions as ones of war crimes...

Are you ashamed of telling the truth?
Marlon De La Torre
When engaged in conversation it’s not out of the ordinary to assume that the discussion would be sensible and truthful. The last thing we expect to hear is a tale so far-fetched that it makes no logical or moral sense. The irony here is that the basic definition of a conversation is to convey truth. In other words, when engaged in any conversation our natural inclination should be to speak honestly and charitably with a fellow human being and avoid “small talk” which in many instances barely amounts to substantive dialogue...

If you don't think missionary discipleship is the cure, you might not grasp the disease...

Learn how to answer the hard questions about Jesus...
Tom Hoopes
vividly remember idling in a Kansas City Shell station waiting to get gas. Plenty of pumps were free — but I wasn’t. I was listening to author Bart Ehrman debunk New Testament passages on NPR and I didn’t want to miss any of it. It was fascinating not because it was an attack on my faith, but because his critique didn’t sound like an attack at all...

Pope names Msgr. Al Schlert as fifth Bishop of Allentown...
Rocco Palmo
For the last twenty years, Msgr Al Schlert has been the closest collaborator to the last three bishops of Allentown. And now, he's the Fifth Bishop of Allentown. Deciding the next chapter of the 280,000-member upstate Pennsylvania fold in just over six months, at Roman Noon this Tuesday the Pope named the 55 year-old native son as successor to Bishop John Barres...

When you have less than a day at an abbey...
Rick Becker
Wide-eyed and wonderful, Katharine was awed by the rocky terrain as we made our way north from Denver to Virginia Dale. “Look at how high those mountains are,” she said. “Actually, we’re hardly in the foothills yet,” I replied. “The mountains are even higher than this – see those snowy peaks over there?” I pointed off to the west and explained that the mountaintops were so high and cold that the snow never melts there...

The paradoxes of evangelization: Why simply imitating worldly marketing schemes may not be the answer...