ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. – A funeral Mass was scheduled for March 27 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis for Jon Hassler, an award-winning novelist and a professor emeritus of fiction at St. John’s University in Collegeville.Read More

CHICAGO – Six young people - all between the ages of 18 and 25 -were charged with felony criminal defacement of property and simple battery after spattering fake blood on themselves and nearby worshippers during the 11 a.m. Easter Mass in the auditorium at Holy Name Cathedral’s parish center in Chicago March 23.Read More

In the early 1990s, I was given lunch at the Roman headquarters of the Society of Jesus by two very – no, make that extremely – high-ranking Jesuits. The table-talk turned to a fascinating question: Are there permanent religious charisms in the church? Most religious congregations die within a century of their founding; our Lord...Read More

The following is the homily Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien gave at the Chrism Mass March 17 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland. The celebration of the Mass of Chrism marks a privileged moment for the People of God throughout the Church Universal this week and what a privileged moment this is for me...Read More

NEW YORK – Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to New York, with all of its special events, needs to run as efficiently as the helicopter that carries him from John F. Kennedy International Airport into Manhattan.Read More

Donned in ornate gold vestments, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien celebrated his first Easter Mass in Baltimore before a packed Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland, March 23. Looking out at a congregation dressed in brightly colored dresses, Easter hats and suits, Archbishop O’Brien said, “This day breathes of life.”Read More

Guided by teens carrying a large wooden cross, a solemn throng of Catholics slowly processed from Shrine of St. Alphonsus in Baltimore to an abortion clinic on Howard Street March 21 to pray for women considering abortion.Read More

VATICAN CITY – In the darkness of night in St. Peter’s Basilica as well as under dark skies unleashing torrents of rain on St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI said the risen Christ vanquished the darkness of sin and death.Read More