COTONOU, Benin – On a three-day visit to Benin, Pope Benedict XVI urged African Catholics to witness the hope of the Gospel in their daily lives and make the church a model of reconciliation for the entire continent.Read More

In the Catholic music world, Tom Booth is a modern legend and he has served as a mentor to several major stars, including Matt Maher. In the early 1990s, Booth wrote Mass settings and ritual music. Those arrangements, the “Mass of Life,” have been used across the country since 1993. Now that the new translation...Read More

INDIANAPOLIS – While covering NCYC 2011 for Baltimore’s The Catholic Review, I recorded this absolutely stunning homily from Bishop Christopher Coyne, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. It moved the 23,000 in attendance and now you can take a listen, share this and download it to your computer. I’m still unpacking after the conference,...Read More

INDIANAPOLIS – New Orleans’ own Mike Patin stirred the crowd at the National Catholic Youth Conference with a talk about sharing Jesus and he wove in a comparison to iPods. It had the crowd riveted and the audio is below.Read More

INDIANAPOLIS – Four young people from the Archdiocese of Baltimore interviewed with The Catholic Review following the final morning session of NCYC. They served as animators and led songs on stage. Here’s some insights into their experience via a video interview I did.Read More

Amanda Ceraldi, from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was a past attendee of the National Catholic Youth Conference, but now that she’s a college student, she has something new to attend – the National Catholic Collegiate Conference. Amanda, who attends Catholic University of America and is a parishioner of Our Lady of the Chesapeake in Lake...Read More

While emcee Valimar Jansen attracts most of the attention at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, she doesn’t do it alone. There are many talented teens who assist in performances, songs and dances. The Archdiocese of Baltimore has several young people acting as animators on the stage this year and I got the chance...Read More

ORANGE, Calif. – A bankruptcy court judge has ordered the sale of the Crystal Cathedral and its nearly 31-acre campus in Garden Grove to the Catholic Diocese of Orange for $57.5 million.Read More