In light of Austen Ivereigh s strong post below on the Irish bishops and his favorable mention of Diarmuid Martin the archbishop of Dublin whose suggestion that the Irish bishops resign did not carry the day here is a long piece by David Gibson on Martin s career and example in the midst of a c

America reviews the field

nbsp nbsp Mes chers amis nbsp Last night I saw an extraordinary new movie called Lourdes directed by the Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and starring a luminous Sylvie Testud as a more-or-less believing pilgrim who suffers from mulitiple sclerosis nbsp Christine has come to the

I mentioned nbsp below nbsp the wonderful news of the first canonization of a member of the storied Congregation of the Holy Cross Andre Bessette but Pope Benedict XVI also formally announced nbsp the upcoming canonizations nbsp on October 17 nbsp of the amazing Mother Mary McKillop about whom

Wonderful wonderful nbsp news from the Congregation of the Holy Cross whose press release I m reprinting in full Known popularly as the miracle man of Montreal Brother Andr eacute Bessette C S C -an unassuming porter who became legendary for his ministry to the sick and needy of Montreal-was

One of the great members of our editorial staff one of the great Jesuit priests and one of the greatest men I have ever known has died at age 92 John W Donohue S J began as an associate editor at America with our April 1 1972 issue and finished with our June 25 2007 issue It is impossible

Liberal Catholics are often said to twist the church s teaching or disregard it completely to suit their own needs--particularly on matters of sexuality and church authority nbsp We are nbsp sometimes accused of nbsp that here at America and on this blog nbsp Cafeteria Catholic is an ep

For those of you who are fans of the Britcom Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister and I m not the least of these to paraphrase St Paul you ll enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at life at 10 Downing Street in which Tony Blair was amused to find himself seemingly stuck in that 1980s sitcom

Here s a nbsp very brief video nbsp I did last year for Loyola Press who asked me to speak on what it might mean to be joyful during Lent traditionally a sad time nbsp Here is my nbsp suggestion nbsp We at America join with you in prayer during this Lent that we may all draw closer to Chris

We don t normally advertise upcoming events but this one looks great nbsp Bringing together a wide variety of voices on the question of abortion is this conference at Princeton University nbsp Check out the participants Open Hearts Open Minds and Fair Minded Words A Conference on Life and Cho