Our editor in chief Fr Drew Christiansen SJ nbsp was nbsp especially busy the last few days--speaking about the Pope Benedict XVI s new encyclical Charity in Truth something he is uniquely positioned to do as a social ethicist as well as on the pope s recent meeting with President Obama some

Readers know that I am not in the habit of responding to comments on my posts mostly because I think the comment section properly belongs to the readers I have said my piece now you all should have your chance And some of you readers post so thoughtfully and so regularly and get such good deba

Every morning I go to the Vatican website to consult the daily Bollettino where they post important announcements such as the Rinunce e Nominee and Le Udienze This morning rsquo s had this notice under the latter category Il Santo Padre riceve questo pomeriggio in Udienza nbsp S E il Signo

Yes you read that headline correctly nbsp Mother Mary McKillop the foundress of the Australian-based Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart nbsp was in 1871 officially excommunicated by her local bishop on the grounds that she she had incited the sisters to disobedience and defiance

What with the papal encyclical Caritas in Veritate released at the beginning of the week and the Pope receiving President Obama at week rsquo s end there is much to write about regarding both events But I do not want to overlook another important event in the life of the Church in America and ind

I understood it tonight -- not the papal encyclical I ll come to that but the business of putting people on the fourth plinth in London s Trafalgar Square real people standing or sitting or knitting or whatever for an hour at a time 24 hours a day over the next couple of months It s call