Living in the same Jesuit community as Dan Berrigan--what a privilege to share meals and conversation with this great man an icon of the anti-war movement who was willing to spend time behind bars to assert his opposition to war-related violence and in fact all forms of violence including abortio

This morning rsquo s appointment of Bishop Thomas Wenski as the next Archbishop of Miami is welcome for a variety of reasons some close to home and some noteworthy for changes on the Vatican rsquo s selection criteria for bishops Most immediately Wenski came to national prominence on the strength

Rarely has the U S Catholic community been so publicly at odds over a social policy matter as the U S bishops and U S women religious communities were in the climax of the health care reform debate in March The bishops applying what can only be described as speculative interpretations of the pl

Nuntio vobis gaudium magnum nbsp Habemus papam I rsquo ll not forget the moment Pope Benedict XVI was elected five years ago today I was on the hill above St Peter rsquo s Square in the BBC tent going live for the umpteenth time The cardinals had been in conclave for two days and the British

Dietrich Bonhoeffer remarked in his famous prison letters about his gratitude for life among prisoners who were not pious noting his surprise at what life was like with them In a very different context I too have found compelling the desacralized spaces of secular culture In rock culture

One of the many deeply disturbing aspects of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been the lack of discussion about penance nbsp While public apologies from bishops who protected abusive priests are becoming more common doing penance to atone for individual sins is still too rare n