Seamas O'Reilly mines a family tragedy for mirth and good storytelling in 'Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?' James T. Keane offers his thoughts on this latest selection for the Catholic Book Club.

In Holy Saturday meditations, the late pope engaged postmodern thought in exploring the thorniest of church beliefs.

Human composting and alkaline hydrolysis do not satisfy the Catholic Church’s requirements for proper respect for the dead, the U.S. bishops said in a recent statement.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was committed to ‘the ordinary person, not the rich Catholic,’ said Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration attorney who worked with the bishop. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Brother Mary Joseph lay in state at Mepkin Abbey, his simple funeral liturgy soon to begin, fitting for a man who lived a simple life at the South Carolina Trappist monastery.

When someone dies, it is only right that family and friends be given a chance to share their memories of their loved one. But the balance between pastoral care and logistical realities can be a tough one to strike.