Giacomo Puccini, the composer of “La Bohème,” “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly,” has been called the world’s most popular songwriter, and with good reason.

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr, by Sebastian Gomes

A hymn to mercy and love, “Love Calls Us to the Things of This World” springs to my lips when my heart is quiet. I teach it as often as I can for my introductory poetry students. 

What caused Dorothy Day to stand out in her time, as it does still, is the way her spiritual life was expressed not only in her daily prayer but in her response to the needs of her neighbors, to the poor and to the demands of history.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, who earlier prohibited specific hymns and composers, has now issued a new decree opening a synodal approach to the issue.

After Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, the Democrats have repeatedly failed to hold together the coalition that elected the country’s first Black president.

“We wish him much wisdom,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said about Donald J. Trump, the day after he was elected as the 47th president of the United States of America.

Joseph Hazboun, CNEWA’s regional director in Jerusalem, described expanding difficulties for the Christian Arab community on the West Bank but added that nothing, of course, compared to the complete humanitarian breakdown being experienced in Gaza.

This election highlights the deep divisions in American society. But perhaps the strange working of mercy and providence is evident even there, keeping us attentive to the need for conversion and reconciliation.

Kamala Harris did worse with women, Hispanics and young people than did the Democratic candidates in the last two presidential election.