In the latest issue of The New Republic an article by Steven Pinker the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard attacks the concept of human dignity one of the central ideas of Catholic social teaching indeed of contemporary Catholic moral theology His point seems to be that dignity

The members of Order of Malta or at least its American branches concluded their annual one-week pilgrimage to Lourdes yesterday and your intrepid Jesuit reporter was among them As in the past few years I was as a guest of and chaplain for the Federal Association of the Order which makes

Tomorrow I take off for Lourdes the shrine in Southern France where well if you don t know that story you re probably reading the wrong blog Anyway let me share one thing before I leave My hosts for the trip are the Order of Malta officially called the Sovereign Military Order of M

For those who were moved by the pope s meeting with abuse victims from Boston here is an interview from The Boston Pilot the archdiocesan newspaper with Cardinal Sean O Malley on how the meeting came about Q Can you explain your involvement in that unannounced meeting in Washington that

A unusually good and unusually fresh meditation on Pope Benedict s visit to Ground Zero and the pope s visit with the sexual abuse victims which uses the imagery of St Peter--who is told by Jesus that the leader of the church will be taken where you do not want to go It s at Pajamas

The Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium yesterday was one of the high points of my Catholic life Not simply for being able to be close to Pope Benedict XVI a man with whom I from time to time disagree and being able to see the Successor of St Peter but also for being able to celebrate being Cath

Today Pope Benedict met with five or six victims of sexual abuse from the Boston area The emotional meeting took place in the office of the Vatican nuncio to the U S in Washington D C For many Catholics this represents a significant step forward in the healing of the church It is not

Thank goodness for Youtube among other graces in the papal visit so that we can hear President George W Bush utter what are sure to be oft-quoted words addressed to the Vicar of Christ Thank you Your Holiness Awesome speech The response of the Successor to St Peter is not audible Ja

Here s my take over at A Papal Discussion on the pope s landmark speech to the U S Bishops on a variety of topics including the abuse crisis Benedict and the bishops See if you agree James Martin SJ

Pope Benedict decided to end speculation about whether he will discuss the abuse crisis even before he lands Aboard the plane en route to Washington D C he said this according to the Associated Press It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general