What happens when the political collides with the spiritual the personal I rsquo ve been reflecting on this question the past day or so as news broke that Pope Benedict would effectively retire at the end of the month I rsquo ve written more than my fair share criticizing the way that some bishops

President Obama named Denis McDonough to be his Chief of Staff appointing his former National Security Advisor to the post McDonough was appointed last week watch a video nbsp here The Atlantic offers some quick facts on the new appointment including that he is a practicing Catholic and one of 1

If you rsquo ve ever wondered where the Catholic Church stands on the unsavory use of ivory in religious objects you now have an answer Last fall a reporter with National Geographic wrote the Vatican to inquire about the church rsquo s stance on using ivory to construct crucifixes and other devoti

Polls show Catholics favor stricter gun control laws more than members of any other denomination yet some wonder why it seems church leaders don rsquo t say much about the issue Below are 16 church leaders who have indeed taken a public stand This is by no means an exhaustive list In the comment

At an event in Washington last night reexamining the race for the White House and looking forward to the next four years hosted by NPR Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page discussed the fractured cultural climate in which we find ourselves citing the hyper-partisan programming on both Fox News

The New York Times reports on a seemingly counterintuitive theater collaboration in Boston where a one-man play about clergy sexual abuse is being staged at the Paulist Center in the heart of the city nbsp ldquo Conversations With My Molester A Journey of Faith rdquo chronicles the abuse of Mi

nbsp The Vatican rsquo s portraitist and official court painter is the Russian born Orthodox believer Natalia Tsarkova who has painted Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI among others She gave a brief video interview to the BBC in which we see her pet owl and is profiled in an article from AFP

As a member of the so-called millennial generation myself I rsquo m always interested to hear the thoughts of my contemporaries on issues of faith and culture A new e-journal Millennial offers an online home to Catholic writers in their 20s and 30s to explore a vast array of topics including po

One of the more interesting aspects of the Catholic Church rsquo s involvement in civic life is that it cannot be comfortably placed anywhere along the left-right political spectrum at least in an American context Just days ago I posted about Pope Benedict rsquo s widely-reported comments on same

Pope Benedict XVI used his important Christmas address to the Roman Curia in part to attack gains made by same-sex marriage advocates around the world especially in the United States in November and to contribute to a debate raging in France From USA Today Gay marriage denies God and devalues hum