Commentaries
Silence is Lenten antidote to week’s turmoil
Effie Caldarola observes the roil of news both profound and sublime in just the first week of Lent. The season calls us to seek God in quiet, in Scripture, and in the encounters with others each day.
The black Catholic nun every American should know
At age 15 Anne Marie Becraft began a school for black children in 1820 and became a nun in the midst of the nation’s and the church’s slaveholding elite. Her life declared that the lives of black people, especially women and girls, mattered.
The Catch-22 for religious freedom
Richard Doerflinger describes how some wish to strip a particular group's religious exemption because they're not religious enough (i.e., Catholics') while affirming it for groups in which the exemption is irrelevant.
Parish mergers demand bridges for diverse members
Edith Avila Olea observes how many parishes in the U.S. are merging, and the result often is divided communities of people with different languages. Parish leaders should embrace the change, without fear.
Maternity Parish celebrates place where St. Katharine prayed
Parishioner Joe Devine describes the Old Church of the Northeast Philadelphia parish, celebrating its 150th anniversary, where Philadelphia's heiress-turned-saint visited regularly. Her feast day is March 3.
Another infernal betrayal in the church
Greg Erlandson finds echoes of Dante's "Inferno" in the sins of powerful churchmen of our time, including laymen like Jean Vanier. We should look at the church's cult of celebrity, and leave the saint making to God.
Like musicians, we keep our gaze on the Conductor
When we focus intently on the gaze of the Father and actively seek his presence -- like the cues of a maestro -- we come to learn how he wants us to pursue his will for our lives, writes Julia Brawley.
Ashes we cannot see should start a revolution this Lent
The point of Ash Wednesday is that others can see our ashes, but we cannot, writes Father Eric Banecker, who calls for "Copernican Revolution" of the church and ourselves, to prayer and action.
Archbishop’s installation reminds us to unleash God’s love
For Patrick Walsh, the installation Mass of Archbishop Nelson Perez called to mind the importance of helping someone feel seen and cherished. Our opportunity to make someone feel God’s embrace is a little altar to reverence.
Third Hispanic archbishop signals rise of Hispanics in U.S. church
As Catholicism of the 21st century becomes increasingly Hispanic, there is something both powerful and political in the appointment of leaders such as Archbishop Nelson Perez, writes Hosffman Ospino.