James Kellen overcame childhood polio, turned to education and the Catholic faith, and won renown for his academic skills over a 40-year career as a librarian at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota.
There isn’t a thing that Les Murray, the poet who was received into the Church when he married, can’t do better than almost any other living poet. His latest effort is a brilliant collection which reminds us of the strangeness of time.
Assisted suicide law will erode the moral fabric
24-Jun-2016
Sr Nuala Kenny - medical doctor, renown ethicist, professor, and Sister of Charity of Halifax, Canada - is deeply concerned with the new law allowing euthanasia and doctor-assisted death in Canada.
A cinematic bucket list for the Year of Mercy
24-Jun-2016
Inspired in part by the Pope’s Year of Mercy, the Arts & Faith film-writers group chose mercy as this year’s theme. A biography of St Vincent de Paul topped the list comprising films from Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, Europe and the US.
Seminarian sculpts his way towards priesthood
24-Jun-2016
Canadian seminarian Edward Gibney draws on his years as a professional sculptor to give students statues of a "laughing Jesus" when they become deacons, reports the Catholic News Service.
Rich meaning in symbols behind the eyes of mercy
24-Jun-2016
The logo for the Year of Mercy, full of meaning and significance, is worth looking at closely. It was designed by the Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik, whose mosaic art adorns many major churches in Europe, writes Bishop Michael McKenna.
'Nowhere to rest his head'
24-Jun-2016
Luke 9:51-62 When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him.
Why do attacks on gays, Muslims, Jews, and other minority groups generate a vast examination of conscience, while acts of hatred or contempt directed at Christians generally provoke basic silence, asks John Allen.
“The most damaging idolatry is not the golden calf but enmity against the other,” wrote anthropologist Rene Girard. Most of us like to believe we do love our neighbours and are free of enmity towards others. But is this so, asks Fr Ron Rolheiser.
Camaldolese Benedictine and noted author
19-Feb-2016
Camaldolese Benedictine Fr Bruno Barnhart, author and spiritual director, has died in Big Sur, California, aged 84.
Jim Wallis, evangelist and social activist
19-Feb-2016
Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners in Washington, DC, is a renowned evangelical social activist, popular commentator on ethics and public life and author of many books.
“This is my Son, whom I have chosen..."
19-Feb-2016
Luke 9:28-36 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
A book about the life of monks in Pskov-Caves Monastery in Russia has become an unlikely bestseller.
Principal a rare species in education world
19-Feb-2016
Sister Ann-Maree Nicholls SGS agrees she is something of a rare species - the only Sister of the Good Samaritan working as a school principal in Australia. She’s also one of only two religious principals in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
In search of a merciful Lent
19-Feb-2016
I always view Lent as a time for reflection, to consider how I am in the world, to seek and offer forgiveness where I need to and to continue to grow and change. This Lent, I am going to draw encouragement from Pope Francis, writes Meg Kahler SGS.
ISIS, genocide -- and the rest of us
19-Feb-2016
The Nazi destruction of stolen art were acts of gratuitous violence. Similarly gratuitous destruction of ancient heritage is now underway wherever ISIS is seen in Iraq and Syria. And so is another genocide, this time of Christians, writes George Weigel.
The American artist Norman Rockwell found humour and lovable eccentricity in often-idealised scenes from everyday life. Now an exhibition of magazine covers proves there was also a Catholic art like Rockwell’s.
Pope announces second football 'Match for Peace'
09-Feb-2016
Sitting alongside football stars such as Ronaldinho and Bryan Ruiz, Pope Francis has announced that a second edition of his 2014 interreligious match for peace will take place in May, reports the Catholic News Agency.
The impunity enjoyed for 25 years by the killers of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador has begun splintering after a US judge ordered one of the suspects who had fled to the United States to be extradited to Spain to stand trial, reports NCR Online.
Mexican president in marriage annulment scandal
09-Feb-2016
Less than a week before the arrival of Pope Francis in Mexico, local journalists have claimed that Mexican president’s wedding to a soap opera star was possible only because leading Church figures lied to help annul her previous marriage, reports Crux.
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