January 1 marks the feast of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. The holy day of obligation falls on a Thursday this year. According to the Dictionary of the Liturgy, “this feast recognized Mary as the physical parent of Christ, the God-Man, defined at the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century.Read More

WASHINGTON – Late-night talks with friends about life and faith are common in the dorm rooms of The Catholic University of America. Talking about the Catholic Church in class is pretty normal, too.Read More

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Tony Blair has won praise – even from those who have publicly disagreed with him on the Iraq War – for a seminar about the interplay between globalization and religious faith that he just finished teaching this semester at Yale University.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI stepped up appeals for an end to the bloodbath and hatred tearing apart Iraq.Read More

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe must be forced to step down, said the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.Read More

HAGERSTOWN – Standing beneath a large painting of the crucifixion at St. Ann in Hagerstown, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien challenged Washington County parishioners to “embrace” the crosses that come into their lives.Read More

Beth Hazel’s cause requires urgency that goes beyond a single month’s focus.Read More

A Canadian friend recently alerted me to an international petition being organized by Avaaz.org, a “community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today.” (According to the organization’s polyglots, “‘avaaz’...means ‘voice’ or ‘song’ in...Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Nepalese, Dari, Turkish, and Bosnian.”) The petition asks “global citizens” around the world...Read More