ROME Of all the beleagured Christian communities of the Middle East the most dramatically affected in the past few years is without doubt Iraq s Trying to put numbers on the dramatic exodus of Christians is not easy however as I discovered when four synod participants sat down this afternoon w

From our friends at CARA an analysis of Catholic attitudes on transubstantiantion The Pew Forum on Religion amp Public Life rsquo s recent U S Religious Knowledge Survey has unearthed evidence of an identity crisis among American Catholics ldquo More than four-in-ten Catholics in the United S

The students hanging from the trees the adulating crowds the campaigner rsquo s hoarse voice calling for ldquo a movement for change rdquo mdash it all made President Obama rsquo s appearance last night at Ohio State look something like October 2008 For a moment the lsquo enthusiasm gap rsqu

ROME Friday afternoon and Saturday morning saw the final speeches of the Synod participants bringing to a close the first part of the deliberations here in which bishops and other participants have a chance to air what they think important This morning they discuss their report after the discus

I watched Waiting for Superman this weekend read America s Raymond A Schroth s review here and found the film a thought provoking couple hours in which the director Davis Guggenheim examines the darker side of American public education a system where so many children are failed by schools that

Cambridge MA Life is particularly hectic these days at Harvard since not only are we in the middle of the semester mdash a happy but exhausting time and the business of the semester multiplies mdash but two other factors impinge on my time and energy First there is the American Academy of