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

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Hard on the heels of the article in The New York Times nbsp about the Apostolic Visitation of women s religious orders in the nbsp United States nbsp and the nbsp Leadership Conference of Women Religious nbsp is today s NPR s

The editor in chief of America Drew Christiansen S J has forgotten more about Catholic social teaching than I rsquo ve ever known mdash and he rsquo s not forgotten much nbsp So I urge you to read his commentary nbsp below nbsp on the pope rsquo s new encyclical on social justice and the econ

The Boston nbsp Globe running a story by Nicole nbsp Winfield of AP today has reported that the cure of a man from Marshfield Mass has been officially accepted by the Vatican as a cure attributable to the intercession of John Henry Newman clearing the way for his beatification nbsp nbsp We

Fr Drew Christiansen SJ editor in chief of America reports on his visit along with a small group of Catholic press representatives with President Obama this morning Thurs July 2 at the White House Fr Christiansen is pictured in the photo at the far left of the table nbsp The quotes

Don t miss the extensive front-page story in The New York Times by lead religion reporter Laurie Goodstein on the Apostolic Visitation of women s religious orders in this country and of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious nbsp nbsp The Times nbsp has comments not only from Mother Mar

News today that Karl Malden died at the age of 97 I liked him best in quot The Streets of San Francisco quot nbsp where he played the gruff-but- unflappable nbsp cop to Michael Douglas s hotheaded rookie reminded me of his seminal role as Fr Pete Barry the priest in the film nbsp quot On t

On our web-only quot Books amp nbsp Culture quot section is a nbsp terrific review by Fr nbsp Robert Barron of a movie you may not have heard of but which nbsp Fr Barron says is well worth seeing quot The Stoning of nbsp Soraya M quot nbsp nbsp Here s the first part which should whet y

This stunning photo of a newly discovered mosaic of St nbsp Paul was released today by the Vatican nbsp nbsp The story was carried in the London Times H T David Gibson at Pontifications nbsp nbsp nbsp Isn t it nbsp breathtaking nbsp nbsp nbsp Here s a clip from the Times quot Vatican a

Here s Dan Gilgoff nbsp at US News nbsp amp World Report with nbsp a nbsp look at nbsp Obama s planned rollout of a common ground approach to reproductive health issues like abortion and contraception nbsp Stay tuned As the White House readies its plan for finding common ground on repr