Commentaries
Remember our dead to affirm life
Through faith in Christ's resurrection, we can honor deceased loved ones with a sense of fiesta and rejoicing, writes Hosffman Ospino. Through the victory of life over death, we celebrate relationships that bridge the visible and the invisible.
Death and life intertwine in a season of souls and saints
The waning light and chill winds of autumn remind us of our mortality, writes Moises Sandoval. Yet we remain connected to our deceased loved ones through the bonds of love and our communion in Christ.
Clamor over Vatican II misreads church history
Decades of debate, war and secularization shaped the church's encounter with the modern world long before the council, writes George Weigel. By understanding their past, Catholics can better engage in the present while envisioning their future.
Genocide of Syrian Christians demands action, justice
In barely 15 years the Christian population of Syria and Iraq has plunged from about 2.5 million to less than 500,000. The methodical cleansing of the region's Christian population is a shameful, silent genocide.
If Plato had headphones: Seeing the real in a crowded world
A new ad for Bose headphones has Brett Robinson thinking about our perceptions of reality, God's grace at work in the world, and the kind of modern progress that renders us blind and deaf.
As ‘nones’ flee religion, what’s a parent to do?
The number of people who have no religious affiliation jumped 50% in 10 years. Greg Erlandson sees families and church leaders grappling with the trend, and doing the best they can for kids.
The gift of Scripture, ever new
Father Eugene Hemrick recently learned you're never too old to rediscover the wisdom of God's word in the Scriptures -- especially their emphasis on the values of altruism and selflessness.
Unalienable rights still exist, and must be protected
Richard Doerflinger sees in the core documents of the U.S. and U.N. clear calls to safeguard human rights, which a new State Department commission aims to do. And none too soon.
Church would be poorer without priestly celibacy
Ordaining married men might seem like a gain, but it isn't, writes Father Carter Griffin. The most important question is not what might be gained by modifying the practice of celibacy, but rather, what would be lost?
Tomorrow’s children on the world we leave behind
Edith Avila Olea is having a baby, so she is thinking about the future and earth's climate crisis. She is confident that generations together will rebuild the earth, and that God's work isn't done here.